With all of the choices and freedoms we are so lucky to have in this day and age, do you feel free? Genuinely free? Or is something standing in your way? Maybe you feel trapped. Or like your life is not what you truly, deep down, want it to be. If you can relate to feelings like these, it’s time to set yourself free to live your best life.
Along the way, by setting yourself free, you’ll not only find freedom, but you’ll likely achieve your financial goals, too.
Let’s dive into how you can set yourself free to live your best life and reach your financial goals.
Because life is too short to spend trying to live up to someone else’s expectations or dreams when you have so many of your own!
Start by getting out of your own way
Many of us are our number one worst enemy. If you want to truly set yourself free, it’s time to step aside and get your of your own way. Easier said than done, right? Here are some ways to accomplish this:
1. Move through your fears
Nobody is truly fearless. Some people, though, have the skills to be scared but move through that fear and accomplish their goals anyway. If fear is holding you back, one way to set yourself free is through exposure.
Let’s say you are afraid of public speaking but know that improving that skill would help you at work and bring you more job satisfaction.
The best way to move through that fear and accomplish your career goals would be to practice, practice, practice. It will be tough at first, but working through that fear will set you free once you reach the other side. Lots of people have negative emotions, including fear, around money.
Maybe you are afraid to know your debt amount because you don’t have a plan to pay it off, so you don’t open your bills. Only once you tackle that fear and begin to open those bills can you come up with a plan to fix your finances.
Debt is a huge burden, but once you have a plan in place to pay it off, you’ll be on your way to freedom.
2. Set aside limiting beliefs
Limiting beliefs are negative thoughts you have about yourself that prevent you from living your best life and accomplishing your goals.
Have you ever thought or said something like “I’m too old to go back to school,” “I’m not good at managing money,” or “I’m not focused enough to accomplish that”?
These are classic limiting beliefs and, while they feel true to you, they are not rooted in truth. Sure, maybe you don’t think you are good at managing money.
But that’s probably because you were never taught how to do it. You aren’t “bad” at money; you simply need to educate yourself on how to manage it and reframe your mindset.
Instead of telling yourself how terrible you are at managing money, start to talk to yourself positively, saying things like “I am learning to manage my finances” and “I am on my way to becoming debt-free.”
Setting yourself free by living authentically and in line with your values
Do you know your personal core values? A key to setting yourself free is understanding these core beliefs. Start by making a list of your top five core values. These are the principles that you make all of your decisions based upon and they strongly tie into your "why".
For example, if one of your core values is growth, a life of freedom would look like one where you were constantly learning new things.
If you were stuck in a job with little room for upward mobility, that would go against this core value, and you would have a difficult time feeling free. This concept of money core values would also tie into your financial integrity.
Living a life of freedom is all about understanding your core values and making choices based on those and not what other people think or want for you.
Setting yourself free from busyness
Do you find yourself answering “so busy!” to the question “how are you?” If so, it might be time to slow down a bit and free yourself from busyness.
If you want to live a slower life and have more time and room just to be, you should have that. This type of freedom – the freedom from busyness and the gift of time – is priceless.
For starters, you can stop talking about how busy you are. Instead, let people know what you’re up to. Are you working on a new project at school that is keeping you busy?
Share that information instead, and you’ll begin to free yourself from the “busy” label. At the same time, you’ll also get to share important parts of your life with those who care about you.
One practical way to set yourself free from busyness is by using your money to buy time. For example, if household chores are keeping you busy and you have no time for yourself, consider outsourcing some of these tasks to buy yourself time.
Freeing yourself from other people’s expectations
When you no longer care about other people’s opinions, seek their approval, or try to meet their expectations, you will be set free in so many ways.
Are you stuck in a cycle of doing things that meet other people’s expectations instead of your own? Luckily, there are ways to break free from this and let go of other people’s expectations, such as:
- Living according to your personal core values and not someone else’s.
- Expressing your opinions and what you truly want.
- Realizing that other people’s expectations are just their opinion. It is their problem if you don’t live up to them, not yours.
Learning not to worry what others think of you is how to truly set yourself free!
Setting yourself free by setting goals
What’s your vision of freedom? For some, it’s sitting at a beach with a cocktail on a Tuesday afternoon. But for others, freedom comes from structure. Having structure in life, like setting and achieving goals, can actually set you free.
Think about what you want from your life. Take some time to write it down and include all of your wildest dreams. From there, break it down into actionable goals.
Do you have financial goals? Professional development goals? Whatever they are, by knowing your goals and living your life accordingly, you will be on your way to setting yourself free.
You don’t want to have dreams and goals that you never accomplished because you never made a plan! There is more freedom in structure and purposeful goal-setting than in letting life take you where it happens to take you based on the desires of others.
Decluttering your way to freedom
Your stuff might be weighing you down and preventing you from living a life of freedom. Clutter can actually cause you tons of stress and negatively affect your finances. If you feel overwhelmed by all of the stuff in your life, it might be time to embark on a decluttering project.
Then, once you have control over the things you have, you can consider taking it a step further and embracing a minimalist lifestyle.
One of the many benefits of minimalism is how much money you can save by no longer buying things you don’t need. You’ll feel lighter as soon as you begin to tackle the clutter and will feel even freer once you spend money only on things that you truly need.
Setting yourself free from comparison
The last thing that might be holding you back from living free is comparison. You don't have to do it because everyone else is. When you stop trying to keep up with the Joneses, life opens up.
Again, it all goes back to you, your core values, your goals, and your dreams for your life. Not anybody else’s. Ask yourself – what do you really want?
When you begin to think more carefully about your life and what you want and stop comparing yourself to others, you’ll get to a place of freedom that not many people ever reach.
Set yourself free, live your best life, and achieve your financial goals
Sometimes all it takes is a little reflection to realize that your life doesn’t look like you want it to. Luckily there are so many ways to change course!
Hopefully, if you’re feeling stuck or unhappy with where you are in life, these tips will help you move through those feelings and set yourself free.
By setting yourself free, you’ll be well on your way to living your best life and achieving your financial goals! Get started on your path to freedom by enrolling in our free financial courses!