In previous blogs, we have covered one topic at a time, from entrepreneurship, to dreams, to stress, and more. In today’s blog, we want to talk about a few different topics that are all somewhat correlated.
The first is lifestyle. Lifestyle is often overlooked by many people for many reasons. One reason is often that people don’t even know to consider building the lifestyle they want. They are so narrow-minded on the path that they think they should be following that they never take the time to step back and actually look at the life that they are building for themselves and ask, “Is this truly the lifestyle that I want for myself?”
Oftentimes people don’t ask themselves this question because they are too busy trying to live up to the expectations of others. This is similar to why they are so narrow-minded on the path that they think they should be following; they are following that path in order to make others happy, not themselves.
Lifestyle is often overlooked because people in our society seem to be more concerned about professions than lifestyles. Think about it, the second question you’re asked after being asked your name almost every time you meet someone is, “What do you do for a living?” Hardly any emphasis is placed on lifestyle in the professional world, because we’ve been conditioned to believe that production is more important than lifestyle.
So counterintuitive to this idea, we at The Freedom Society are here to tell you that if you want to build the life of your dreams, you need to reverse engineer your life, starting with lifestyle first, and then work your way back to a profession that fits within that lifestyle.
For example, many members of The Freedom Society are profitable traders. Why? The freedom and lifestyle. As a profitable trader, you trade from your laptop anywhere in the world, for a few hours per day or per week, and you aren’t confined to the opinions of others because your income isn’t based on selling a product or service or keeping a boss happy. As a trader, it’s just you and the market.
But becoming a profitable trader is something that less than 5% of the world has done. This brings me to my next point; it’s easier to hit home runs in our society than it is to hit singles.
What do I mean by this? People look at a statistic like the one I just shared, the fact that less than 5% of the world has become a profitable trader, and immediately rule themselves out as part of the 95% that “can’t hack it.” Rather than trying to “hit a home run” people would rather just go for the safe secure “single” and get an on base hit that looks like a job that will pay them just enough so they can cover their bills and they won’t quit. And in return, people will work just hard enough so that their employer won’t fire them.
The problem with hitting “singles” is that is what everyone is trying to do, so there is actually far more competition than people realize. Well over 95% of people don’t have the courage to face the criticism and judgement that goes along with trying to hit “home runs” like being a musician, an athlete, an entrepreneur, a day trader, a model, etc. But for those who do, there is actually far less competition because over 95% of the population doesn’t even have the courage to try.
Home runs look different for all of us, so how do we identify what our home run is? This leads me to my last point; happiness can be identified by the feeling of excitement.
For most of us, happiness seems to be this fleeting feeling. Frequently people will ruminate about the idea of whether or not they are happy, repeating in their internal monologue, “I’m happy right? I have a good life. I should be happy. Shouldn’t I?” This rumination in and of itself can cause unhappiness.
We’ve found that the best way to identify happiness is through the feeling of excitement. We all know what it feels like to be excited. Whether it’s a hot date, a new opportunity, or a fresh start, we approach the experience with giddy eagerness.
So if you’re stuck in a rut right now at a dead end job, searching for clarity, take a step back and consider the lifestyle you want to live. How much money do you want to make? How many hours do you want to work per week? How much mobility do you want to have?
Answering these questions will help you design the life you want, and then it is your job to go for the home run profession that allows you to have this lifestyle. And the way you find that home run profession is to intuitively feel the excitement that engulfs your being when you think about pursuing it. That’s when you know you’re on the right path.