The Voluntary Life

An episode about making conscious choices as an entrepreneur.

Entrepreneurs have to make hundreds of decisions about their businesses every day. It is easy to lose sight of which decisions are the really big ones- the ones that have huge repercussions. The big decisions are also an opportunity to express your individuality and creativity as an entrepreneur: to make a conscious choice about the purpose and design of your business. This podcast provides an ove...

This episode provides an overview of eight tools that can free your mind and massively boost your productivity. One of the things that makes us human is our ability to extend the power of our minds with tools. The tools are only effective when combined with the right habits (repetitive behaviours). Be sure to look up and learn more about the productivity habits mentioned with each tool. 1. A Conce...

This episode is an interview with Todd Tressider, founder of financialmentor.com . Todd founded Financial Mentor to educate business owners and investors about the wealth building principles he learned from years as an entrepreneur in the investment management industry. In the interview, Todd outlines his definition of financial freedom and discusses the hurdles you need to overcome if you want to...

This episode is an interview with Jorja Leavitt, founder of Sharetown.com . Jorja is an entrepreneur and mother of four, living in Las Vegas. In the interview, she shares her experiences of moving to a minimalist lifestyle. She talks about the freedom that she has found from decluttering and selling unnecessary stuff. She highlights the great opportunities to trade at a community level, using soci...

This episode is an interview of me by Kevin at Freedom Lovin' Podcast. Here's what we covered: What does freedom mean? Why entrepreneurship is important Living in Mexico Minimalism/going paperless Tips on becoming more free in your life

This episode provides a mind blowing way of thinking about the true cost of your monthly expenses. If you are interested in achieving financial freedom, then it makes sense to look at each monthly recurring expense as really costing you 300 times more. For example, a gym membership that costs £80 per month really costs £24,000 (in dollars, a $120 monthly gym membership really costs $36,000). The e...

This episode is about how to go paperless and what the benefits are. Topics covered include: How accumulating paper limits your flexibility and freedom  Simple steps to reduce the paper you accumulate such as using e-billing and e-books. Ways to minimise the paper books you own, such as selling them as soon as you have read them Key tools for digitizing your paper and going paperless: a multipage...

This episode is a recent interview I did on the Nomad Capitalist Report radio show . The interview is by Andrew Henderson  and here's his summary: "Live from Mexico, Jake Desyllas of The Voluntary Life podcast talks entrepreneurship and freedom. He shares tips to building a location independent business, being a global entrepreneur, and prospering anywhere in the world. He shares suggestions from...

An episode about freedom from stuff. Topics covered include: What I learned living from a backpack for 7+ months Why owning stuff is not wealth The hidden financial and psychological costs of owning stuff How your stuff can control you The goal of purposeful ownership Strategies for minimalism: paperless, zero data and selling all your crap

An episode about finding and clarifying the purpose of your business.  Why does your business exist? Topics covered include: The limits of "Mission Statements" The benefits of a really short elevator pitch for your business' purpose: encapsulating it all in just 3 words It can often take a long time to move from intuitive to fully conscious business purpose. Don't worry, you can get going and disc...

An episode about the financial risks and rewards of entrepreneurship and what they mean for your motivation in starting a business. Here's some harsh data about the financial risks and rewards: More than half of startups cease trading within the first five  years . Entrepreneurs on average earn significantly less income over 10 years than they would have earned in paid employment. There are debate...

This episode is about things to consider when choosing co-founders to go into business with. Topics covered include: Do you need co-founders? The advantages of choosing co-founders who are different to yourself (in background, skills, personality, and business networks) The importance of shared core values and purpose for co-founders Research by Noam Wasserman shows that teams made from former co-...

This episode is about three approaches to delegating work within your business. No business can grow unless the founder is able to delegate work to a wider team of people. It's essential that tasks are properly delegated and that the business owner doesn't abdicate responsibility. However, there are three very different ways to delegate: The Operations Manual Approach is where detailed standards a...

If you want to become an entrepreneur but are not sure what kind of business you would like to start, what framework can you use to help you decide? There are two things to consider that will provide you with a strong advantage: 1. Starting a business to create a solution that you will be a customer for This is sometimes called "eating your own dog-food". To be successful, all businesses have to d...

This episode is about the pros and cons of being self-employed vs being a business owner. Both options have advantages and disadvantages, but mixing the two does not work well. In the self-employed/freelancer model, you sell your time, cover your own expenses and keep all profit. This works best when you have a valuable skill and lots of industry contacts, as you are able to undercut bigger compan...

This episode is about how to diversify your investments for lower risk and higher return. The issues covered include: The problems with a simple "buy and hold" approach, whereby you invest all your money in your one favorite asset (be that stocks, gold or anything else). The problems with the "market timing" approach to investing and why it doesn't work. The benefits of diversifying your portfolio...

It has never been easier to live and work abroad. If you are self-employed and work online there is nothing to stop you. Why nor sublet your apartment for a few months and live abroad in a fascinating (and potentially cheap) destination? Here is a list of all the things that make long term travel super easy: Have your home post rerouted to friend (or commercial service) who scans it into a Dropbox...

An episode about how to use goals and visions to move forward in creating the life you want. Show Notes: Previous Episode on GTD Getting Things Done  by David Allen

This episode is about the concept of limited liability and it's role in entrepreneurship. The purpose of the limited liability principle is not to protect the entrepreneur as director or manager of a business, it is for the protection of investors. There is a big difference between this principle and how the actual law of limited liability works in practice. The law is messy and confusing, with st...

This episode discusses the question of risk in investment, speculation and entrepreneurship. When is it a good idea to take risk and when isn't it? I share my own personal opinion. Podcast Episode

An episode on how to scale and optimise your business to make more profit and enhance your competitive advantage. The issues covered include: Standardisation: making one version of what you do Proceduralisation: making one version of how you do it Optimisation: speeding up and automating your procedures Knowledge Capture: maintaining and growing your operation within the context of staff coming an...

This episode is about employing people as an entrepreneur. Topics covered include: The destructive legacy of the reward and punishment paradigm from school Why pay isn't as important as you think The importance purpose, mastery and autonomy in motivation The problem with relying on interviews for hiring and alternative ways of finding great people The value of freelancers or independent contractor...

An episode about the problems with Intellectual Property, from the perspective of an entrepreneur. I started off thinking that IP is an integral and necessary part of entrepreneurship. I thought that it would be very important for my business.  I have now come to see IP law as something that: prevents innovation, is immoral, promotes conflict, diverts resources to unproductive uses and is ultimate...

Part 2 of an interview with entrepreneur Judd Weiss , talking about business relationships. In this episode Judd talks about: The pitfalls of employing people The benefits of partnering or affiliate relationships How to create awesome relationships with clients