Can You be Free? How?
“In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved.” Franklin D. Roosevelt
Do you feel constrained by your circumstances or environment or the people in your life? Would you like to lead a different life but feel chained down to your current life? Do you feel trapped, although you’re free to come and go whenever you want?
These are all signs that your life just isn’t how you’d like it to be.
Recognizing these signs is the first step. Taking some action that will move you in the direction of the freedom you crave is the next step. Here’s how to start to achieve more freedom in several different areas of your life.
Freedom to Live Where You Want
If you love to travel, you might want to live a mobile life, moving from one place to another, earning money as you go. You could be a digital nomad, able to earn a living wherever you can access the internet, or you could take on a variety of temporary jobs in the places that you visit.
Either way, you’d be free to discover new places, meet new people, and live the life that you’ve always wanted.
If you’d like to move to another city, state, or country, take some action. First, gather as much information as possible on the place you’d like to live in:
- Find out what the job market is like: is there a good supply of jobs you’re qualified to do? Are your skills in demand there? If not, is there something else you could do, such as work remotely?
- Find out how much it would cost to rent an apartment or buy a house there
- Calculate your likely moving costs
- If you’d need to apply for a work or residence permit, find out what the requirements are and how long the application process would take.
Once you have this information at your fingertips, set some goals that will allow you to move to the place you’d like to (or to travel from place to place).
Freedom in Your Work Life
Self-employment, freelancing or running your own business can give you freedom in your work life, whether you stay in one place or not. That doesn’t mean that this lifestyle is without its responsibilities, but it does mean that you can:
- structure your day in a way that suits you
- work with companies that treat and pay you fairly
- work for clients who you enjoy working with
- take time off when you need to or want to.
Taking the plunge and deciding to change your life so that you have more freedom in your work life can be a big risk.
It’s definitely not the easiest way of living your life and you’ll face challenges along the way. These may make you wonder if you made the right choice after all!
However, over time, you’ll realize that the freedom to live your life in the ways that you want to, in ways that feel good for you, is much more important than being stuck in a job that you hate or in one fixed place if a nomadic life suits you.
Financial Freedom
Financial freedom means different things to different people.
For some, financial freedom would mean being debt-free. For others, financial freedom would be earning enough to be able to pay the bills and enjoy life without worrying about money. For yet others, a large sum of money in the bank would mean they’d be free to live the life they truly want to.
Begin to attain financial freedom by setting some financial goals.
Your first goal could be to pay off one debt.
If you have no debts but also no savings, set yourself a goal of saving a certain amount each month or a certain percentage of your earnings, even if it’s just one percent to start with.
Once you get into the habit of saving, you’ll find it’s easier to reduce your outgoings and increase your savings in many different ways.
Freedom from Possessions
Possessions can tie you down, causing you to use up a lot of time and energy taking care of them, organizing them, tidying them, and cleaning the spaces where they reside.
We live in a culture where “more is more” and we’re told that having a large home filled with the latest gadgets will make us happy, when in fact it will tie us down and restrict our freedom.
Through gradually sorting through your possessions and getting rid of everything that is unnecessary, you’ll feel lighter and have a greater sense of freedom.
Once you’ve started on this path, you’ll also find it easier to restrict the number of things you buy. “One in and one out” is a good rule, so, each time you buy something new, donate something you no longer need to charity.
That will keep a good flow of positive energy going in your life and your home. Find out how to start decluttering in six easy steps.
Freedom in Your Mind
A free mind is free from worries, fears, resentment, anger and other kinds of negative thoughts and emotions that clutter your mind, cloud your thinking, and hold you back from achieving your full potential.
Freedom in your mind is perhaps the hardest kind of freedom to attain. It takes a lot of practice to recognize each negative thought and let it go as quickly as you can, replacing it with a positive thought.
Regular meditation, yoga, mindfulness, and spiritual practices can help on the path to achieving freedom in your mind.
So, Can You Achieve Freedom?
When I first read this quote from Franklin D. Roosevelt, it made me stop and think:
“In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved.” Franklin D. Roosevelt
Can freedom really be achieved? Can you achieve it yourself in your own life? That started a quest for more information which led me to the conclusions I’ve mentioned in this article.
Achieving true freedom is unlikely to happen overnight. However, I know it is possible to gain more freedom gradually.
First, clarify exactly what you want from life. Then, set some goals that will put you on a path to achieving this. Take action every day, even if it is just a small step.
It will be a step-by-step process and there will be some bumps on the road but you’ll be creating the life you’ve always dreamed of. That will give you the motivation to carry on when things get tough.
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