What does freedom mean to you? Freedom for me is defined as simply staying out of debt, purging my life of junk, and doing what I love to do. If I don’t purposefully take the time to answer this question for myself and stay focused on the answer, there are lots of people, companies and organizations that will work tirelessly to try and answer it for me. Society’s “default script” says that we should work to get the most toys so we can keep up with the Jones’. Rather than following that default script, I choose to live my dream, even when I have no idea what I’m doing. Living a dream can be scary, confusing, and uncertain, but very rewarding. Write your own script and choose to do what your heart (not culture) tells you to do. Take steps starting today to realize that dream.
Stay out of debt and purge life of junk. It is a known fact today that Americans store old stuff so they can buy new stuff. It is scary to admit but there is 2.2 billion square feet of storage space in the United States. What have we come to? Why are leaders from other countries amazed when they see the size of our trash cans? Why do we feel that surrounding ourselves with stuff will bring us security? Identity and happiness do not come from physical things and I will never regret selling or giving away my stuff. Purging ourselves of debt and stuff give us the freedom to capitalize on opportunities. Our identities should be based on collecting rich experiences in life rather than on what we own. This freedom means we no longer have to work hard to buy into a lifestyle due to debt – a lifestyle that requires acquiring more and more debt that can only be paid off by working for decades at job that we don’t like. Life is too important for us to be trapped in the “work-buy-debt” cycle that never ends. Start today to collect experiences and not things.
Discover your freedom and dedicate you life starting today to what is important and what you are passionate about. You will not regret it.
(these ideas were formed based on notes I took while viewing a popular TEDtalk)
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