Freedom “it’s all in your mind”

Freedom Starts in the Mind

Have you ever been told, “It’s all in your mind”? The truth is, they’re right. Real freedom begins not in your circumstances, but in your mind.

What does freedom look like for you?

The following mindset hacks can bring you closer to the freedom you seek in business and in life. Most importantly, you must remember that you are the crucial ingredient. If you take action on what I share with you today, you will create more freedom each day, without fail.

If freedom is a top priority for you, it’s because you value it deeply. It’s crucial to recognise this because when your actions in life and business conflict with your core values, you begin to feel trapped.

Let’s start with your thoughts. How can you have freedom if you continuously tell yourself that you are trapped? If your internal monologue sounds like, “I hate this… I feel so trapped,” then that is the reality you will experience. To give yourself permission to matter is to recognise that your core values are important.

When you learn to focus on what you want, you will create more of it. If you focus on “lack,” you will only get more of that.

I remember a time when I was riding my motorcycle into Las Vegas for a two-week training course. For weeks before the trip, I kept thinking, “I really hope I don’t have to ride my motorbike through all the traffic every day to get to the course.” Sure enough, it felt as though I had subconsciously created that exact reality. When I arrived, my accommodation was so far from the training centre that I had to ride my bike in peak hour traffic every single day.

When it comes to experiencing more freedom, it all starts with your mindset and your beliefs. If you are mindful of your focus each day, you will move toward the experiences you desire.

Have you ever felt trapped in a job, hearing yourself complain about management and the people around you? You felt so far from the freedom you desired that the very word began to annoy you. Perhaps you even scoffed and said, “There’s no such thing!”

Be honest. I know this feeling because I have been there, too. I used to tell my colleagues, “If you see me here in five years, tell me to get a life!” Well, nobody did, and seven years went by before I did anything about it. By that time, I was constantly grumbling about the CEO and management. As a flight attendant, I started to dread my trips, fuelled by a burning desire to explore more and start my own business.

So, in 2004, I started a website. I found suppliers and built relationships with them, but I had absolutely no idea about business. I had a great website, a strong marketing plan, and a lot of passion, but I was missing too many key components. Of course, the venture flopped. I thought that freedom would come from working for myself. What I didn’t understand then is that freedom is a mindset. It is the mindset you have when you start your business that gives you freedom and allows it to flow into the rest of your life.

Sometimes freedom can seem untouchable. However, freedom is a choice—a way of thinking, doing, and creating new beliefs. Taking action to create more freedom also means identifying what hinders it in the first place. Often, it’s the expectations you place on yourself and others that lock you in a cage of despair.

What are you willing to let go of to achieve more freedom? Are you willing to give up guilt, fear, anxiety, negative self-talk, and belief systems that no longer serve you?

“Today I choose life. Every morning when I wake up I can choose joy, happiness, negativity, pain… To feel the freedom that comes from being able to continue to make mistakes and choices—today I choose to feel life, not to deny my humanity but to embrace it.” – Kevyn Aucoin

The best freedom mindset hacks are the ones you practise daily until they become habits, a natural way of operating in business and in life. The following FREEDOM Formula is a daily or weekly check-in process I created to help you do just that.

The FREEDOM Formula

FOCUS – on what you want.

• Each day ask: “What is my focus today?”

RESPECT – for other people’s model of the world.

• Each day ask: “How can I show respect for myself and others today?”

EXPLORE – all the possibilities.

• Each day ask: “Have I explored all possibilities and points of view?”

ENERGY – spend your energy wisely.

• Each day ask: “How can I manage my energy so that I am operating at my best?”

DISCOVER – the positive learnings.

• Each day ask: “What lessons have I learned that I can use to serve me in the future?”

ORIGINAL – put a little bit of you in everything you do.

• Each day ask: “How can I be original and creative in my dealings today?”

MOTION – to keep momentum.

• Each day ask: “What stops me from moving forward, and how can I find a way around it to best serve others?”

These questions are simply examples. Feel free to create your own questions that are more relevant to you or your team, as long as they are focused on positive, forward-looking outcomes.

“You are only doing the best you can with the information you have at the time.” – Dr. Tad James

The Freedom Challenge

If you choose to accept it, use each day to work toward more freedom. Hold an intention to observe and create freedom in all areas of your life.

Remember, freedom is at your core. Use this formula as a guide to cultivate more of it in your business and in your life. Freedom is yours to explore. Go and discover what it means to you, and then live it.

Thanks for playing…

Adventure on!

By Linda A. McCall