For those who thrive on challenges, this is the one to really go for! I had a huge AHA! An experience I had a few days ago I wanted to share. Because it has been a tremendous awakening, I feel like it can really help a lot of people. Many people already know this, but I know many don’t. Take it for what you want, but I know it can help someone… even if only one person, it’s totally worth it! Like many people in our industry I have been telling myself over and over, things like: “When I make the money, then I will be free” “When I pay off all my bills, then I will be free.” “When I build my dream house, quit my job, have my life the way I want it…then I will be free” “When I don’t have to worry about money anymore, then I will be free…” Sound familiar? Thinking all these thoughts over and over just kept me like that donkey chasing the carrot that is right in front of his nose… NULL “I can taste it, I’m right there!… so close… just one more thing and I’ll get it, I can FEEL it…” Have you had this experience? We go, go, go, and charge, charge, charge after some carrot of freedom only to always to come up with thin air, then many people give up… some “make it” but most give up. Then it HIT ME RIGHT BETWEEN THE EYES:
Those who have “made it” will agree, it’s all about the process of going after the carrot we go through in this journey to build our dream lives… the carrot is US and who we BECOME on the inside!
All the outer stuff, the house, the cars, the money, the dream life is just a reflection of who we become in the process of going after them! Now, I got this point BIG TIME and as of the moment of writing this I don’t have all the stuff yet, but I am FREE! And that’s a very powerful realization and platform to work from! When I got this, you know what I did? Remember in the movie “Braveheart” when Mel Gibson was yelling “FREEDOM!” from the depth of his soul and the top of his lungs? Well, that was me a couple of days ago… out in the middle of some corn fields in Iowa… arm’s outstretched to the sky…“FREEDOM!” “FREEDOM!” “FREEDOM!” over and over…I have no voice left right now, but it was one of those awakening moments in my life that will stand out as monumental for sure. I then proceeded to do a 23 mile run/walk which I had never done before and feel like I am just getting started… Now, you may be thinking to yourself… “yeah, yippee for you buddy, but how does this help me?” Well, here’s the scoop… I started to see things from a different perspective.
I got that we can, at any moment in our lives right as they are right now, CHOOSE TO BE FREE!
TRUE FREEDOM is a state of BEING. It has nothing to do with stuff – how much we have or don’t have, how much money we have or don’t have or owe, what and where we live, what we drive, who are friends are, what our current situation is, etc, etc, etc.
Until we CHOOSE everything about our lives the way they are right now, we can never truly be free to change them.
Obviously, I didn’t come up with this; it has been said many times in many different ways, but to finally see it in myself and my own life… wow! You know what true financial freedom is? It is the freedom of not WORRYING about money, whether you have it or not. Most people with money spend so much time and energy worrying about it, who’s going to sue and take it from them… linking their happiness to the ups and downs of the markets. Most people without it spend a lot of energy and time worrying and fretting that they don’t have enough of it and pine for the day when they do and when that day comes they will finally be free and not have to worry about it anymore. Is this financial freedom? I don’t think so! If you can say you don’t do that, then you have accomplished real financial freedom. Believe me I know, it’s very difficult to separate emotions from money, but when we get this, it is so exhilarating… it becomes totally FUN and FREEING! If you are reading this right now, and you feel like you are bogged down with some situation or problem in your life be it related to money, health, or whatever… here’s a couple of simple yet powerful exercises and practice you can do RIGHT NOW and as often as you like to help you see that you are always FREE regardless of what your circumstances are: Always choose your situation exactly as it is.
Look around you at everything in your life and consciously choose it… all of it… just exactly the way it is now. The debts, the car, the business, the stress at work, the wealth, the health issues, the visiting uncle, the dying grandmother, the relationships, the job, the house, the family stuff, ALL the problems and joys in your life. FULLY EMBRACE IT ALL! NO MATTER WHAT YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES AND SITUATIONS ARE. OWN THEM!
Embrace everything in your life right now as perfect, just the way it is.
I know this may sound weird, but stick with me here. So often we want to change some aspect of our life we don’t like, by denying it’s there, running away from it, wishing it would be different, dreaming that if we didn’t have to deal with this or that problem (not enough money, too much stress at work, or whatever thing is a stress in our lives) then our lives will finally be good and we will be happy. When we always choose everything about our lives just the way they are right now, we gain a perspective of peace and freedom, and the ability to make changes from a clean slate, and it’s always an ongoing process. You know that game in the arcade where you get points for bonking the bobbing heads with the padded whopper stick (sorry, I don’t know the actual name for this thing), you bonk one head only to have another one pop up really quick? Life is often like this… sometimes we think, “Oh, if I could only take care of such and such problem once and for all, then my life will be good, then ‘whammo’, another problem, or several. The cycle keeps repeating itself, we always seem to have problems! When we embrace them, we are free. And it doesn’t mean we are free of problems, because we will always have problems.
But when we are free from linking our happiness or lack of happiness to the problem itself, what’s left? Freedom!
Even if you get a glimpse of this, you will feel what I am talking about. You want to be free? Choose to be free RIGHT NOW! You want to be happy? Choose to be happy RIGHT NOW! I know, I know… easier said than done. But this simple realization can be so freeing, so I am just putting it out there in hopes that you will benefit from it and see that problems are all in your head! It’s how we choose to see them! One person’s problem is another person’s opportunity! And then, when we start to get the hang of this we can take it a step further, we can actually choose and create even bigger problems to “deal with” in our lives. Say you want to learn how to make a million dollars. Well that’s a pretty darn big problem if you have never done it before. I am in the process right now of making my first million and it’s bigger than anything I have ever attempted to do. To me, it’s a HUGE problem!
It forces me to go beyond all of my previous belief systems, ways of thinking, ways of being… everything, and do something I have never done.
Talk about STRETCH! To someone else, it may be “ho-hum or been there, done that”… but for most of us it’s a mountain we haven’t yet climbed. Ask any self-made millionaire about what they went through on the inside to get to where they are, most of them will LOVE to share this with you! And they will confirm what I said earlier in the article, that it’s all about WHO THEY BECAME IN THE PROCESS!! What’s a really big thing you have always wanted to do but haven’t taken the action to do it because of fear or self-limiting beliefs? Here is a very powerful exercis
e you can do whenever you can. And I will tell you, it’s going to get you out of your comfort zone. Are you game? Affirmations are great… this is taking it to another level. You may not be ready for this, I don’t know. But I am putting it out there. I can almost guarantee you this is not something you have done or most people do every day. Do this particularly when you are feeling really overwhelmed with everything in your life, you are struggling in some way, out of sorts with your current situation especially if it has you really down, burdened, unfocused, disillusioned, at the point of giving up, un-inspired… off your game. Or even if you feel like everything is going great in your life, this is still a great thing to do.
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With 10 years in the personal development field, I have helped many people get more out of life.
I am a professional teacher of meditation as well, so inner development is just as important as outer development!
Let's do this together!
Josh Liteky is a passionate entrepreneur, teacher of meditation, writer, and M2 Master Consultant with Wealth Masters International, a leading lifestyle design company in the direct selling industry. He loves to help people achieve their dreams in life. Visit his website at www.JoshLiteky.com
- The Importance of Communicating Effectively by Josh Liteky - April 1, 2010
- Owning Your Future by Josh Liteky - March 1, 2010
- New Beginnings by Josh Liteky - January 1, 2008
