How to Be Free
Decide what total freedom means for you., Identify what you want from life., Identify what is keeping you from getting what you want., Identify the steps necessary in achieving what you want., Surround yourself with people you admire.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Decide what total freedom means for you.
Can you be free if you live at home with your parents? Can you be free if you're incarcerated in a jail, or live under a totalitarian regime? Can you be free if you work 9-5? It all depends on you.
Only you can actively improve yourself and your station in life, moving toward the freest possible version of you.
For lots of people, moving to college seems like total freedom: no parents, unlimited Xbox, and co-ed bathrooms! But college is still a campus-shaped bubble where meals arrive with the swipe of a card that someone else probably paid for, where you've got to live by the rules of the syllabus if you want to pass. -
Step 2: Identify what you want from life.
Think forward to the end of your life.
When you're looking back over it, what do you hope to see? A life of pleasure? Of accomplishment? Of family and success? Of endless parties? Do you want to be respected and feared, or do you want to live a quiet life of solitude and contemplation? Try to identify what will make you happy, in and of itself, and what kind of a life makes room for that happiness.
Many people instinctively think large sums of money lead to limitless freedom and happiness.
While that may be true, try to think instead about what it is you'd do with an unlimited supply of money.
What would it make easier, specifically? What would you do if money were no object? How would you spend your time? There's your answer.
If you struggle to decide, instead of focusing on an ideal day--which, let's face it, we'd probably all spend at the beach--Try to think of your ideal week.
After a whole week on the beach, we'd all probably end up sunburned and bored.
What kind of work would you do? When would you do it? Where? , Are you living your ideal life right now? If not, what stands in your way? What would need to change to get what you want? If you are living your ideal life, what would be necessary to sustain your lifestyle? Why aren't you doing what you want right now, today, this moment, this second? What's stopping you? Again, it's easy to blame money for our problems: "If only I had the money, I could get that new guitar and my band would be great," we say, making excuses for why we're not signed to a lucrative record deal, forgetting that a new guitar has nothing to do with your ability to write a catchy melody, play well, and work hard on stage.
If only you had the money, it's true, you could travel to Thailand, or write novels all day, or spend all your time gardening heirloom hot peppers.
But it's probably not money that's really keeping you from doing those things--it's you giving up on the hand you've been dealt, and folding the cards. , It's hard to find total freedom and happiness overnight.
It'll likely take some effort to get what you want and find your ideal environment in which to live your life.
What efforts on your part will be necessary to getting what you want? Say you decided your ideal life involves having a small and loving family, who leads a quiet life in the country growing vegetables.
If that would give you the type of freedom you desire, what can you do now that will actively move you toward that reality? In the long term, you might start studying permaculture, or wildlife management, or some other field that would involve work in the natural world.
Where might you like to own a home? Would you build your own house or buy one? What do you need to save to make it a reality? In the short-term, you might check out rural co-ops or communes you could visit and exchange work for room and board.
Or check out World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF), a program that lets you volunteer on organic farms around the world, getting experience. , Role models are essential in finding your true self.
As much as we like to think of ourselves as perfectly individual snowflakes, it's important to surround yourself with people who live as you would like to live, not to mimic their behavior, but to learn from it and apply their lessons in your own life.
Be careful of constantly comparing yourself to other people if it makes you get down on yourself.
Remember, you never know what hardships others really face, only the outside view.
Competition can be good for some people and terrible for others.
Know yourself and focus on your own life.
Worry about your own backyard. -
Step 3: Identify what is keeping you from getting what you want.
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Step 4: Identify the steps necessary in achieving what you want.
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Step 5: Surround yourself with people you admire.
Detailed Guide
Can you be free if you live at home with your parents? Can you be free if you're incarcerated in a jail, or live under a totalitarian regime? Can you be free if you work 9-5? It all depends on you.
Only you can actively improve yourself and your station in life, moving toward the freest possible version of you.
For lots of people, moving to college seems like total freedom: no parents, unlimited Xbox, and co-ed bathrooms! But college is still a campus-shaped bubble where meals arrive with the swipe of a card that someone else probably paid for, where you've got to live by the rules of the syllabus if you want to pass.
Think forward to the end of your life.
When you're looking back over it, what do you hope to see? A life of pleasure? Of accomplishment? Of family and success? Of endless parties? Do you want to be respected and feared, or do you want to live a quiet life of solitude and contemplation? Try to identify what will make you happy, in and of itself, and what kind of a life makes room for that happiness.
Many people instinctively think large sums of money lead to limitless freedom and happiness.
While that may be true, try to think instead about what it is you'd do with an unlimited supply of money.
What would it make easier, specifically? What would you do if money were no object? How would you spend your time? There's your answer.
If you struggle to decide, instead of focusing on an ideal day--which, let's face it, we'd probably all spend at the beach--Try to think of your ideal week.
After a whole week on the beach, we'd all probably end up sunburned and bored.
What kind of work would you do? When would you do it? Where? , Are you living your ideal life right now? If not, what stands in your way? What would need to change to get what you want? If you are living your ideal life, what would be necessary to sustain your lifestyle? Why aren't you doing what you want right now, today, this moment, this second? What's stopping you? Again, it's easy to blame money for our problems: "If only I had the money, I could get that new guitar and my band would be great," we say, making excuses for why we're not signed to a lucrative record deal, forgetting that a new guitar has nothing to do with your ability to write a catchy melody, play well, and work hard on stage.
If only you had the money, it's true, you could travel to Thailand, or write novels all day, or spend all your time gardening heirloom hot peppers.
But it's probably not money that's really keeping you from doing those things--it's you giving up on the hand you've been dealt, and folding the cards. , It's hard to find total freedom and happiness overnight.
It'll likely take some effort to get what you want and find your ideal environment in which to live your life.
What efforts on your part will be necessary to getting what you want? Say you decided your ideal life involves having a small and loving family, who leads a quiet life in the country growing vegetables.
If that would give you the type of freedom you desire, what can you do now that will actively move you toward that reality? In the long term, you might start studying permaculture, or wildlife management, or some other field that would involve work in the natural world.
Where might you like to own a home? Would you build your own house or buy one? What do you need to save to make it a reality? In the short-term, you might check out rural co-ops or communes you could visit and exchange work for room and board.
Or check out World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF), a program that lets you volunteer on organic farms around the world, getting experience. , Role models are essential in finding your true self.
As much as we like to think of ourselves as perfectly individual snowflakes, it's important to surround yourself with people who live as you would like to live, not to mimic their behavior, but to learn from it and apply their lessons in your own life.
Be careful of constantly comparing yourself to other people if it makes you get down on yourself.
Remember, you never know what hardships others really face, only the outside view.
Competition can be good for some people and terrible for others.
Know yourself and focus on your own life.
Worry about your own backyard.
About the Author
Melissa Mendoza
Writer and educator with a focus on practical organization knowledge.
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