| What Is Freedom? |
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Removing what stands between you and having it all. We are all in our own way looking for higher and higher levels of freedom. And that’s a good thing because it is our nature to be free… But what is freedom? And how would you know if you actually got it? The most common answer is, of course: “more money!” But is that it? Is that really what freedom is? I doubt it… Over the years I have met and worked with people from all kinds of financial backgrounds. Some of the individuals who have hired me have more spending money a month than the average person has to keep a family on for a year. In my travels I’ve met people who are so financially poor that the poverty line would be a giant step up on the income ladder. Money, I find, is rarely a path to freedom. I actually think Oprah Winfrey said it best (and I ‘m paraphrasing): Money just magnifies who and what you are. If a person is, for instance, emotionally constricted and repressed, more money simply magnifies that. Sure, that person will feel a little freer for a while, but it won’t be long before that same person is talking about how the money has them feeling more constricted than they did before the money came along. So, clearly, in the long term money does not necessarily mean freedom. I could sit here and write five or six other things that one might consider would result in freedom, things like more time, a different partner, or even a different government—but in truth freedom, just like success (or for that matter failure), is…an inside job. Below, I have outlined 4 steps for you that will begin the inside job of reclaiming your authentic self so as to begin the process (and it is a process) of truly finding freedom. What you don’t look at controls you. It easy to tell yourself, “Ah, that’s all in the past,” but the question is: Is it really? What we don’t look at controls us; it becomes the undercurrent of our personality. Just because “it” is in the past on a time line doesn’t mean that you have actually let “it” go. Think about the last time someone cut you off. If you noticed that you got way beyond mad and into the range of pure outrage, that’s called a ‘disproportionate response.’ What that simply means is that, from the on lookers position, the incident might have rated a ‘3’ on the anger scale; however, you know that your reaction was more like a 6 or more. Any time that happens it’s a simple indicator that there is other ‘stuff’ we are upset about, and being outraged at this driver is a reasonably safe place to express what we don’t feel safe expressing in another situation. So step one: Watch for disproportionate responses and ask yourself: What might I actually be mad about that has nothing to do with this situation? The path of least resistance is filled with the corpses of the mediocre. To become free we must overcome the obstacle that are set before us. Telling yourself and anyone else who will listen how tough it is does nothing but validate that it’s okay to quit on yourself. Those who do not have the courage to stand up for who they really are and what they really want die having lived lives that are, at best, half lived and all too often sadly forgotten. These are the forgotten lives of the mediocre, whose fear of offending another has ruled them like a fierce dictator that banished freedom as if it was a plague. All courage is subjective; remember, what’s easy for one person is not necessarily easy for another. So give yourself the recognition for what you have already done and at the same time turn your back on complacency. Celebrating your success is an excellent thing to do; however, staying at the celebration is like still wearing your Christmas hat in February; it gets a little stale. The truth hurts, but it always sets you free. We have all heard the saying the truth hurts, but what is it about the truth that makes it hurt? Is it that the real pain is coming out of denial and admitting (if only to ourselves) that we have been lying about what really matters to us at a deep heart and soul level? When we tell the truth, our “truth,” we are forced to take accountability for our lives, and by virtue of that we cease to be victims of circumstance and we begin to own our power.
The freedom we have been pursuing outside of ourselves will remain elusive because it’s not out there. However, telling yourself the truth is the beginning of the real freedom you can actually attain. So, here’s a simple and profound question to apply to yourself in your pursuit of freedom: “What have I been lying to myself about?” Asking it can be tough, maybe even a little painful, but one thing’s for sure: If you really listen to the answer, you are on the path to real freedom. It’s your life; who’s rules are you really living by? If you were to really stop and question what it is that you believe and why you believe it, you might be very surprised to discover that much of what you believe is because someone taught you to believe it. Beliefs are mostly adopted. People claim all kinds of beliefs as their own without ever even considering whether it is something they truly believe or something that was given to them. Stop for a moment and really think about that… One of my quotes is this: “If you didn’t choose it, it’s not really yours.” If we simply accept beliefs without questions then we are living by other people’s rules. Owning your power by clearing your stuff starts with asking yourself some difficult questions. These questions may shake the very foundations of who you are, but if you really want to be free the only way out is through. This is Dõv Baron saying time, money, energy, and effort spent investing in your authentic self is time, money, energy, and effort well spent. To find out more about clearing your personal path to freedom go to www.BaronMasteryInstitute.com
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