Guide To Personal Freedom; 4 Ways To Achieve It

"Money is a tool. Freedom is the goal." I have been saying this quote for a long time. I want to be free. Everybody talks about freedom. "they want to be free". 

Do I even know what freedom means?  

I want to use this article to clarify to myself what freedom is and how I intend to implement it into my daily actions.

The freedom I seek is to use my mind and body, to live and fulfil my purpose. To do this I must change my agreement to be in line with what Don Miguel Ruiz called the four agreements. I recommend you to read 4 agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. It is a practical guide to self-mastery 

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1. Be impeccable with your words. 

2. Don't take anything personally. 

3. Don't make assumptions. 

4.  Always do your best. 

5. Conclusion

I asked myself this question: why aren't I free? What stops me from being free? I was just giving excuses. It is my family background, I wish we had money, but my parents did not prepare enough for me…

Blaming my parents or people who helped during my upbringing will do more harm than good. and secondly, my parents teach what they know is best for me.

To be free we need to learn from children. They are a good example of what it means to be free. Because children live their lives without being afraid they will be judged. They always have big smiles on their faces and are always fun to be with. They are not afraid to play, they don't worry about the past nor care about the future. They only live in the moment. They are not afraid to express what they feel and are not afraid to love at all. 

What happens when we are adults, we judge and over analyze every action we take. We always act as a victim and we fill our belief system with fear, guilt and resentment. It has been impeding us from growing and becoming who we are. We programmed our minds with fear and not taking risks in order not to fail or expose our weak spots.

The problem with most adults is that they live their lives judging and victimizing themselves and it runs rapidly in their mind like a software program. The solution to this problem is to diagnose and be aware of the problem. We need to be aware of what the problem is to solve it.

Everything we do starts with the belief system. It is the program that controls the mind. The belief system is like a book that contains three groups of words that trigger our actions. One is fear and the other is faith and love. Our agreement is based on our belief system, what we tag as false and true. Any time we feel something that goes against our belief system. The judge and the victim will start to play out. we will feel we deserve to be punished.

That is why we need to verify and challenge our belief system.  because we did choose all those beliefs. They came from our domestication: that is from our parents, our society and our religion. Having an understanding of the concept that makes up these beliefs will enable us to stand firm on it and improvise when needed. and even challenge any that contradicts what we believe in.

Most times what we agree and believe in makes us suffer. If we want to live a life of joy and fulfilment, we have to find the courage to break those agreements that are based on fear. The agreements that come from fear make us suffer, but the agreements that come from faith and love make us strong and fulfilled

 Be impeccable with your words 

It reminds me that my word is the power I have to create and is the most important thing God created in this life. As it is written in the gospel of John,  “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word is God.” Remember in the beginning God created heaven, earth, light, ocean, plants, animals and so on, out of nothing by his word. Our words have the same creative power. Listen to what you say about yourself. That is the true reflection of what you are in the future. We were created with the image and likeness of God. 

We have power in our words. Through the word, we express our creative power. It is through the word that we manifest everything. Regardless of what language we speak, our intent manifests through the word. "My dream, my feelings, and what I am, will all be manifested through my words."  The centurion understood the power of words when he told our Jesus Christ, "I am not worthy for you to come under my roof, but just say the word and my servant will be healed."

Words are like swords; one edge is impeccability, which will make us live life with love, peace and tranquillity. The other edge is the misuse which creates fear and misfortune. Depending upon how it is used,

During our domestication, our parents and siblings most times gave their opinions about us without even thinking. We believed these opinions and we lived in fear over these opinions, like we were not good at public speaking, reading, writing or technical skills. Don't agree with what anybody says about you that is not in line with faith or what God put in your heart. God put a great dream in our hearts.

We talk to ourselves constantly in our minds and what we say affects our physical well-being, growth and progress. We have to be disciplined in our thoughts. If you always say  "am stupid,  I am not smart enough, I will never be good enough" or you are always using sloppy words. You are subconsciously making those agreements in your mind that you are stupid. Your mind goes in hundreds of different directions, getting hooks, clues and anchors to show that you are stupid. If you understand the first agreement and are impeccable with your word, you will begin to see all the changes that can happen in your life. Changes first in the way you deal with yourself, and later in the way you deal with other people.

You can measure the impeccability of your word by your level of self-love. How much you love yourself and how you feel about yourself are directly proportionate to the quality and integrity of your word. When you are impeccable with your word, you feel good; you feel happy and at peace. When you are impeccable, you take responsibility for your actions, but you do not judge or blame yourself.

Don't Take Anything Personally 

This is what I try to remind myself every day. What people think about me is not important. What I tell myself is important. I should not take what people say personally. even if they say I am the best or I am disgusting. Either way, I should not take it personally. It will not affect me because I know who I am. I don't need someone to remind me that I am doing fine. I need to always stay calm with an untroubled spirit.

 Whatever people think, whatever they feel, I know it is their problem and not my problem. So I don't take it personally. It is the way they see the world. It is nothing personal because you are dealing with yourself, not with me. Others are going to have their own opinion according to their belief system, so nothing they think about me is really about me, but it is about them.

I learnt When I make a strong habit of not taking anything personally, I will avoid many upsets in my life. My anger, jealousy, and envy will disappear, and even my sadness will simply disappear if I don’t take things personally.

Don’t Make Assumptions 

The way to keep myself from making assumptions is to ask questions. Make sure the communication is clear. If I don't understand, ask. Have the courage to ask questions until I am as clear as I  can be, and not assume I know all there is to know about a given situation.

We have to be what we are, so we don’t have to present a false image. If you love me the way I am, “Okay, take me.” If you don’t love me the way I am, “Okay, bye-bye. Find someone else.” It may sound harsh, but this kind of communication means the personal agreements we make with others are clear and impeccable.

Always Do Your Best 

In any circumstance, I should do my best, no more and no less. My best is never going to be the same from one moment to the next. Everything is alive and changing all the time, so my best will sometimes be high quality, and other times it will not be as good.

Regardless of the quality, I will keep doing my best, no more and no less than my best. If I  try too hard to do more than my best,  I will spend more energy than is needed and in the end, my best will not be enough. When I  overdo it, it depletes my energy and it goes against itself, and it will take me longer to accomplish my goal. But if I do less than my best, I will subject myself to frustrations, self-judgment, guilt, and regrets. 

This is what I will remind myself when I want to do more and just focus only on my project.

I am not in this life to sacrifice my joy, my happiness and my peace just because of my project. I am here to live, to be happy, to enjoy and to love my life.

Doing my best, I am going to live my life intensely, productively and intentionally. I am going to pay attention to my family, my community and every aspect of life, not just to my project. I will always take advantage of opportunities. My best is to take action and do things because I love it, not because I am expecting a reward (money). Today most people take action when they expect a reward, and they don't do things because they love it and this has led to chronic dissatisfaction and unwillingness to help people in need.

 I know surely rewards will come, but I don't need to be attached to the reward.

Conclusion

These four agreements will help you to understand how our self-thoughts and our words are so powerful. We need to direct them from the right perspective daily. Read this article on how to be antifragile and strive in stressful circumstances.