The Desert of Arizona
Sunny 80 Degrees – 7:39 a.m.
We entrepreneurs are supposed to be freedom seeking individuals. But I, for one, severely underestimated the fortitude and diligence required for the journey.
I don’t mean the actual work. The “work” of building the life you want is easy compared to what I’m talking about. You just take one day at a time and you string a bunch of those days together. You don’t accomplish much in a week or two, but after a few years of consistent investment of time and effort, amazing things can happen.
Like I said, that’s the easy part.
It’s the deeper journey that you have to be aware of if you don’t want to end up in a bad place.
Freedom is a buzzword that is used both by those who understand it AND by those who seek to control others with it. If you look around, there are a lot of people talking about freedom who are slaves.
They have the illusion of freedom around them and they don’t even know it. They were sold the illusion and they ATE IT UP.
So it makes sense, every now and again, to check in with yourself and make sure this life of “freedom” you’re working so hard for is actually real.
Remember these words from Ayn Rand in The Fountainhead:
“Listen to what is being preached today. Look at everyone around us. You’ve wondered why they suffer, why they seek happiness and never find it. If any man stopped and asked himself whether he’s ever held a truly personal desire, he’d find the answer. He’d see that all his wishes, his efforts, his dreams, his ambitions are motivated by other men. He’s not really struggling even for material wealth, but for the second-hander’s delusion – prestige. A stamp of approval, not his own. He can find no joy in the struggle and no joy when he has succeeded. He can’t say about a single thing: ‘This is what I wanted because I wanted it, not because it made my neighbors gape at me’. Then he wonders why he’s unhappy.”
Are you actually on the path to freedom or have you simply adopted the ideas and concepts of others and are now working hard to build a new prison for yourself?
- Do you adhere to the schedule that’s been handed down from above to work during the weekdays and take off on the weekends?
- Do you “follow all the rules” by asking for permission for everything you do including providing for your family and loved ones?
- Do you play a “normal” role in society by spending your days doing things you hate with people you can’t stand like the majority of people do?
- Do you “relax” from all of your hard work by filling your body with poisons like we’ve been taught is normal?
- Have you believed the lie where you have to do X for money so that you can have time to do something you actually enjoy?
- Have you fallen prey to the deceit that trains us that ONE PERSON (you) doesn’t have the capacity to transform an entire planet?
- Have you been fed the B.S. that you are too inconsequential to make a difference within this current “system?”
Is this freedom?
What happens if you choose to become the new causal point of your reality?
What happens if the ideas you draw on to build your life are ones that actually come from within you?
What happens if you realize that everything you’ve been told about how you should be is simply the opinion of another human just like you?
How will you know you’re on the right track with all of this?
If my experience is any help, you’ll know you’re moving in the right direction when the enormity of the responsibility that comes with this freedom scares you to death.
And walking with THAT seems to be the first step to truly living.