Financial Freedom?

This week has been especially eye-opening for myself, as I allowed myself some time to think thru the past year about life and among many other things, the compromises I’ve made to my lifestyle. The one thing that I have learned from the past year is to not compromise.

It seems to me that nearly every article I’ve read criticizes the life you’ve imagined and gives advice on how to live a life within your means and essentially conforming to the standards of current financial management principles. Guess what? In my opinion, financial freedom is unique and cannot be replicated. Something that worked for me, may not (and probably will not work for you). So quite listening to others and think/plan/do for yourself.

I think one of the biggest thing I am learning as I grow older is that it’s easy to change the way you live your life and to compromise. I want to do exactly the opposite, and I say screw what people say — shoot for the moon and make those dreams a reality — live the life you dream of … I mean you have but one life to live! BUT and this is a BIG but … get your act together, so that you can live the life you want. Plan for yourself and set your own goals and expectations.

What does that even mean (for me)?

For me, this means that I don’t want to change the way I live. I don’t want to stop going out to eat, traveling, going on adventures, visiting new places, exploring new cultures and most of all … I don’t want to give in to the notion that I need to do X to accomplish Y. I want to enjoy life. I want to do things when I want to do it, without having money be a stumbling block.

I think for myself, and hopefully for others reading this article, we have one big thing going for us, and that is time. We can screw up and recover. Use this as your excuse. Explore. Figure shit out and get crazy. I mean after all, (and I repeat) we only have this one life to live.

Say What?

Becoming independent (financially) comes down to one thing: Your perception and mentality; you probably have a dream of what you want to be and how you want to live your life. Don’t give up on that. Don’t compromise. Shoot for the stars.