Three Types of Freedoms

The folks I work with are looking for freedom. For most of the business owners I engage with on a daily basis, the word freedom feels like, well, freedom. Basically they're looking for a way to take complete control of their lives and their circumstances. 

I work with many super wealthy and successful people, but many of them aren't happy. Money and success do not take away their happiness, but there's a science to creating wealth and success and there's an art to creating joy and happiness. 

When most business owners think of freedom they simply mean time and money freedom. But I'd argue that freedom from worry, doubt and fear - internal freedom - is even more precious and makes attaining the other two freedoms much easier. 

Creating Financial Freedom

Look, I'm not a Real Estate Expert, but I've learned a simple lesson about financial freedom by working with many who are. Simple financial freedom is about having your monthly expenses and your basic needs met on a predictably recurring basis. 

For instance, in Real Estate the average rental house will cash flow approximately $250 per month. That means that after all expenses are paid, the incoming cash above and beyond expenses is $250. This surplus positively increases your bank account on a monthly basis.

Here's where it gets fun. If you have $5,000 in monthly expenses to cover the total cost of your lifestyle, it requires that you buy 20 rental properties which cash flow $250 per month and your monthly expenses are covered by your monthly cash flow. At that point, you no longer need to work to remain afloat. Any income above that is savings.

I have a client in another industry who has a business which cash flows $10,000 per month based on recurring client revenues, and the business is managed by another employee. That means that after all of the business' expenses are paid $10,000 goes directly to his savings account. This creates a surplus each month above his business expenses without additional effort. 

Financial freedom means that your monthly expenses are met or exceeded routinely by means of recurring income that is predictable and timely. 

Time Freedom

Think about the examples I gave you above. In both cases the money hits the individuals' bank accounts without extra time or effort from them. There's some management of the properties, but they are likely managed by a property management company, or you pay an employee to manage them. In both of these cases the $250 per month cash flow is after these expenses have been paid. 

So to keep both businesses going takes very little time, attention, or energy from the individual who is financially free. This creates time freedom - meaning that the person who benefits from the income is also free to live a life unanchored to a location, and their schedule is open to do as they choose. Time freedom means living your days, weeks, and years according to your wishes, not obligation. 

Time freedom means being in charge of your time, and having flexibility to fill your calendar the way you see fit. Time is a resource which is not replenishable, so this is a very precious state of freedom. 

Financial and time freedom are created by the science of success. There are some specific and objective processes which can help you create these in your life. It's easy to master the science of success.

Internal Freedom

The final state of freedom I want to discuss is internal freedom. I have a saying that I use a lot: the thing you want will not solve the problem you have. Let me explain: If you want more money, money will not cure the want, because the mind wants to want more than it wants to have. If you want a new car, soon after you get one you'll likely think about the next one. And if you're scared of running out of money that's a poverty mindset, and more money will never cure a poverty mindset. If you feel broke there's no amount of money that's going to make that feeling go away. 

Worry, fear and doubt are all internal conflicts that rage inside of people. Think of all the people on anti-anxiety and antidepressant medications. Human beings can get trapped in mental and emotional turmoil based on worry, doubt and fear. Thoughts trigger survival mechanisms in people when they are in no danger and there is no threat of harm. The average human being is dealing with a battlefield of internal conflict each and every day. 

Here's the important part - you can have financial freedom and time freedom, but still deal with internal conflict and stress. You can have it all on the outside - complete external freedom - but the war can still rage inside of you. 

There is no defined, specific, objective process for mastering the internal game. There are techniques and tools, but ultimately it's up to the individual to navigate the internal turmoil and conflict, get to root of what's causing the worry, doubt and fear, and resolve it. There are some steps you can take to identify the conflict, but the letting go is a very subjective and individual experience. 

That's why achieving internal freedom is called the art of happiness and joy.

Moving Forward

The boldest step that you can do to attain internal freedom is slow down enough to recognize the internal conflict in your mind and emotions that you deal with on a daily basis. Most people distract themselves so that they don't need to face it, then they keep running and distracting themselves more as the pressure builds. That's why there's so much addiction, self-destruction, and chaos in the world - it's easier to damage something rather than to heal yourself.

Each year millions of people take steps to attain financial and time freedom, but few take steps to achieve internal freedom. If you don't have internal freedom you still won't enjoy whatever else you create. The most awake people take steps to achieve all three, and that takes courage and patience. 

So I ask: are you just trying to achieve freedom on the outside, or are you diving deep to attain internal freedom? I'd encourage you to choose to have it all. It's well worth the financial, time and energy investment that it takes to find real freedom and joy in the world. 

If you don't know where to start, let me know. I'd love to help. 

Photo by Kristina V on Unsplash