As you might know by now, I’m deeply focused now on radical lifestyle change.
I’m very happily married, and deeply in love with my wife.
I have a good life – no, a REALLY good life – here in NYC (and, soon, in San Diego).
I do work I love, and am my own boss. I can pretty much do what I want, when I want, and for however long I want it.
But, am I truly “free”?
And, what does that actually mean – to me?
In my view, facing this question is vital to your happiness. So, I challenge you to ask yourself:
What does “freedom” mean to me?
Or,
What would my life specifically look like for me to be “free”?
To me, this is a life-changing question. And, based on my first paragraph above, you’re probably wondering “why is Stephen discussing this when his life rocks so hard?”
Well, because, in truth…I’m not actually free.
Here’s my definition (AND I want to hear from you in the comments below about your definition too, OK?)
Freedom: I can do what I want, where I want to do it, for however long I want to do it for, with others that I want to do it with, in a way that I want to do it
Now, in my opening paragraph, I use the words “pretty much” (Dickens, I’m not). This is another way of saying “I am not free”.
I have to be in NYC basically all the time (and often, I’d rather be somewhere else);
I do answer to clients and funders (I also run a non-profit);
I am not in a financial position to spontaneously leave for a trip somewhere awesome (and who doesn’t want that?);
These are the big three ways that I am currently locked-in. So, I’d like to travel more, work more abroad, make a lot more money, and be able to help tons more people do the same.
We live in a very exciting time. One where people are exploring radical new ideas in/around lifestyle design. My good friend Tynan (Herbal, from “The Game”), for example, is a minimalist who lives in an RV in San Fran (or wherever he wants to be). He has about 50 “things” and does pretty much what he chooses to do.
These guys have sold virtually all of their belongings and also live a very nomadic, flexible lifestyle – one where they are truly the pilots.
You can build an online business, work from your laptop, automate most everything and suddenly free up your time (though, according to this guy, you’ll have to work 4 hours per week?).
Truly, the internet has blasted the doors off of the old rules and has challenged us to create new ones (more on that in a later post). But, even if we know what the old rules are, what do I/we/YOU actually want?
In other words – what is freedom…to you?
You’ve seen mine above – now, what is yours? Please post your definition below and lets discuss. Frankly, I can’t imagine a more important topic, can you?
That pic was taken of me by my wife at the Nikko Bali resort in Nusa Dua (Bali) on our honeymoon. We had just eaten a massively healthy breakfast and were on our way to the beach for a day of sunning and relaxing.
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