what does freedom mean to you?
This morning, I saw a picture of a financial advisor friend of mine who is spending most of the summer over in northern Italy, where her family still lives. She’s told me about this trip in the past–it’s an annual summer ritual for her, and I’ve always thought it was such a cool option to have–she’s carefully designed her life to prioritize it.
I immediately thought how much I’d enjoy spending a month or two over in Italy, living, not just being a tourist. I also thought about my friend who just spent six months living in London and traveling all over Europe with her children, sisters, and parents. I then thought about the goal I once had of actually doing what these two friends are doing–I wanted to spend a couple of months in Europe, living in different cities for a week or two with Ang and the boys. I surrendered that goal a couple of years ago as the boys got older and their passions (basketball and soccer) took over our summer and free time throughout the year.
As I continued to think about living and working from Europe and how that’s not in the cards for me right now, I began to think about wanting to make sure that I have the freedom to experience that when the boys are older.
Freedom.
Such a powerful word–and it is very important to me.
I am very intentional to make sure that I continue to grow and evolve in a way that protects my freedom—time freedom, creative freedom, freedom to explore, and freedom to be me–basically the freedom to continue to follow that calls of my heart, which is the same as saying the freedom to live my authentic life.
Despite my focus on freedom, it doesn’t mean that I always have complete freedom. There are times when I have to give up some of my freedom to pursue my authentic life. I’m ok with trading some freedom for something I cannot obtain on my own, but it’s important to trade freedom consciously—I can accept less freedom when I’m choosing to do so, which is another form of freedom.
By now, I’m sure some of you are thinking that it must be nice to have that type of freedom–I can see the eye rolls.
You’re right–it is nice to have freedom in your life.
And you have it.
We all have it.
It’s just that some of us have given it away—or in some cases had it taken away.
I have good news for you. You can take it back.
It might not be easy–I can’t promise you that. But I can promise you that you can reclaim your freedom in your life, or at least be in control of how and when you trade freedom for what you need in your life. Being able to trade freedom for something else consciously is a form of freedom—you get to have more control over your life.
Sometimes reclaiming freedom comes up in the work I do with clients in AlignedLife+ at Santiago. It’s exciting for me to see where my client will be once they regain control of their freedom, but it can be challenging to help them find their way back to that control.
From experience, here are two things you can do to begin to reclaim your freedom:
1.) Understand what level of consciousness you are operating from. Yeah, I’m going straight to the woo. If you are operating from a lower level of consciousness, it is going to be impossible to reclaim your freedom because you won’t believe it is possible. You will be stuck living under narratives that have been told to you–these narratives are powerful and appear as your reality, so they are hard to overcome.
As you raise your consciousness, you will be able to see past these narratives and the possibilities for you will increase. Check out The Map Of Consciouness Explained by Dr. David Hawkins and The Stairway To Heaven by Tara Springett to learn more about consciousness and see where you might be operating from.
Dr. Hawkins’ Map of Conscousness
Tara Springett Stairway of Consciousness (I’ll create a better version)
2.) Define freedom for YOU and what freedoms are most important to you. Understanding what freedom means to you and what freedoms are most important to you will help you know what you are willing to trade and what you aren’t.
For example, right now, being away from my family for extended periods is not something I’m willing to give up—the freedom to manage my time and be present in all aspects of my family is important. There would have to be a very compelling benefit for me to trade some of that freedom. Because I understand this, I can (and have) avoided chasing money because I know more money and less time with my family is not aligned with my authentic life and won’t work. However, I can think of scenarios where I would be willing to trade some of my time freedom and be away from my family a little more than I am now, because it is aligned with my authentic life and where I am heading.
Without knowing what freedom means to me and what freedoms I value the most, I am not able to make decisions that I know are aligned with my authentic life.
I’ll leave you with a quote I’m sure I’ve shared before,
"Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.”
-Viktor Frankl
See you tomorrow and keep pursuing,
JC
🦅 Some ways I might be able to help you live your authentic life:
🤝 One-on-Ones Let's hop on Zoom to do a guided meditation, a creative brainstorming session, or an overcoming an obstacle session.
💸 AlignedLife+ A unique relationship offered at Santiago that combines life planning, financial planning and advice, and ongoing coaching to help you discover your authentic life, design a plan to bring that life to your reality, and support to help you evolve with the evolution of your authentic life. Learn more here.
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