A very important part of why you want to start your own business or venture is being less dependent on others – on other words having lifestyle and financial Freedom!
Indeed, freedom was the #1 factor that drove me to continually build and grow businesses over the last 15-years – by far freedom has provided the tipping point for keeping me motivated, working through challenges, forcing me to take action (especially when you really don’t want to) and giving me the mindset that I believe is absolutely fundamental to success in life – certainty of your desired outcome.
What’s Behind Freedom?
On the surface, you would be hard pressed to find anyone disagree that they would like more freedom in their life and that the quest for freedom is the motivation behind their business, but over the years I have come to understand that there are varying concepts of what freedom really is and that finding specific meaning is critical to actually executing on your desire to build an online business.
For instance, when I ask many people who join Information Marketer’sZone what their “meaning” of freedom is…I get one of the following:
- Complete silence…they really have fallen in love with the “idea” of freedom, but haven’t thought enough about what it means to THEM
- A “stock” answer that they pulled from someone else such as “…having a $Million so I never have to worry about anything else in life”. Hmmm….anyone who has given the idea of true freedom any thought will realize this is simply words that are not backed by internalization of the concept
- Financial meaning…then I get most people who have thought about freedom in one single way, money. The challenge here is of course ignoring some other parts of their lives that are even more important such as family, health, friends and lifestyle. Even when they determine that freedom means an endless supply of cash, they don’t take it to the next stage and think how this will make them happier, help them achieve long-held desires and improve the lives of those around them
You see where I’m going with this?
In order for Freedom to really have deep meaning and in order to allow it to unleash your inner power you must come up with your own personal definition of what freedom will mean in your life.
For instance it could mean…
- Paying off all current debts
- Letting you work a different career or business – without having to think paycheck to paycheck for the next 5-years
- Being able to work 8-months out of the year and take the other 4-months off
- Having more control over your schedule so that you can set your own hours
- Being able to exercise and eat healthier when you want instead of having to constantly interrupt your plan for others
- Not having to work for people you don’t respect or admire…this is a big one and yet most people have never really thought this through
- Having the ability to pay for extended education for your kids, broader medical coverage for your family, extra’s for your aging parents, etc…
From personal experience, when you develop your list of 3-4 key, specific and tangible changes you badly desire in your life and link those to freedom, it’s like adding gas to an open flame…your life begins to change almost overnight and you suddenly become engaged, motivated, action-oriented and certain that you will find the change you wish for in your life.
You find the extra 10% that catapults top entrepreneurs to the top of their businesses and careers…that last 10% means everything but most people can’t figure out how to find it.
So, let’s start by sharing what freedom means to you in your life?
