Deferred happiness is the idea that you can't be happy until you reach some goal or hit some milestone in your life. It's common to see people defer happiness until they make more money, find a romantic partner, finish school, move to a new city, or a million other scenarios. Today we talk about this idea often called Deferred Happiness Syndrome. We talk about why humans are prone to it, what type of people are MOST prone to it, and how to break the cycle of deferring happiness with some ve...
Apr 29, 2024
29 min
Deferring happiness until retirement ... It is commonplace today for people to work their entire lives in jobs they hate, saving for a someday-retirement that may never come. People have come to accepted this way of deferring life — or deferring happiness — to be normal and even mandatory. Entrepreneurship, FIRE (Financial independence Retire Early), minimalism, and many other movements that go against the traditional path have grown more popular as people seem to realize that the defa...
Apr 22, 2024
39 min
Is trying to live forever a good way to live your life? That's the question we try to tackle today, but we take an indirect approach by looking at longevity through the lens of Bryan Johnson's Blueprint project. Bryan Johnson is the founder of multiple companies including one that he sold to PayPal for $800million. Today he focuses much of his time on his Blueprint project where he takes what many would consider an extreme approach to longevity — spending $2million per year on a team of do...
Oct 12, 2023
1 hr 2 min
This week we dive into minimalism. We discuss some different definitions of minimalism, rules that aim to make becoming a minimalist easier, and some of the pitfalls people fall into. The big question we end up tackling is: Can minimalism be a life philosophy or is it just good for decluttering? Some of the resources we used for research or talk about in this episode include: The Minimalists article: What is Minimalism The Minimalists Podcast Minimal-ish Podcast Clutterbug Podcast All the...
Sep 27, 2023
37 min
Today on AMWTL, we discuss the book A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy by William B. Irvine. The book is written as a practical guide for anyone who wants to becoming a practicing Stoic and we use it as a lens through which we look at Stoicism and assess it's worthiness as a guiding philosophy of life ... because we're totally qualified to make that call. We also talk a little about the history of Stoicism, its origin in Greece and the decline of the philosop...
Sep 20, 2023
58 min
This week, we're navigating the twists and turns of the American Dream. Is it still the gold standard for success or just a nostalgic notion from the past? We'll discuss a little history, some real challenges, genuine success stories, and everything in between. A Million Ways to Live is a show that explores the endless different approaches to living a good life. In this episode we mention James Truslow Adams' book The Epic of America. Find out more about him HEREWe discuss the Wor...
Sep 12, 2023
40 min
"Get a Guru" is a recurring themed episode on the A Million Ways to Live podcast. On today's show, we dive deep into the fascinating world of Jim Carrey, a comedic genius whose journey has been anything but superficial. From his early days, Carrey's willingness to experiment with philosophical and spiritual ideas set him apart. But did you ever notice the profound philosophical themes subtly woven into many of his blockbuster hits? From 'The Truman Show' to 'Eternal Sunshine of...
Sep 4, 2023
36 min
Today we're talking about Nihilism as one way to live. Ever feel like life's rulebook is a cosmic joke that nobody let you in on? Welcome to the club. In this episode, we're diving headfirst into the void and guess what? It's liberating. We're talking nihilism, the philosophy that dares to ask, 'What if nothing really matters and that's actually awesome?' Forget destiny, toss out that moral compass, and let's get real about the freedom of a life without cosmic strings att...
Sep 4, 2023
41 min
How to Live: 27 Conflicting Answers and One Weird Conclusion is a book by Derek Sivers, a writer, musician, founder of CD Baby, and former circus performer. In this inaugural AMWTL episode, we discuss Derek's book, how it is an homage to the book "Sum: Forty Tails from the Afterlives" by David Eagleman, how its impractical advice can still be useful, and how this show is at least somewhat inspired by Derek's book... so meta. A Million Ways to Live was produced By Chris Egan For more inform...
Sep 3, 2023
49 min