As you begin to embark on your journey to financial freedom, one thing that you will discover, if you have not already is that there aren't a lot of people who are going to support your efforts. You may have shared your desires with others and receive responses that may surprise you. For example, here are some of the responses that I have received... "That is a pipe dream" "You can't do that" "You are money hungry and greedy" Why is it that many people seem to be against your desire to obtain financial independence? The reason why is because the steps required to reach financial freedom is too uncomfortable for most people. Most people would like financial freedom. However, they value security much more than freedom. As a result, they give up on their dreams of financial freedom for the security of a safe, secure job with benefits. Security and freedom are not the same. They are actually very different value systems. For example, if you want to make money, you can make money the secure way, by getting a job, or you can make money the freedom way, by starting your own business. Let's contrast the two methods. Getting a good job is a very secure way of making money. When you have a job, you know that after a given time period you are going to get a certain amount of money. Every year or so, your money is increased a certain percentage if you do a satisfactory job and if you can learn additional skills you can get a promotion, which can increase the amount of money you take home. However, this security comes at a cost of freedom. Your employer tells you what you have to do, when you have to do it and how you must do it. Your employer tells you what hours you must work, when you can take a break, when you can eat lunch, when you can take a vacation, how long that vacation can be, etc. If you choose not to do things the way you employer desires for them to be done, you will lose your employment and as such you will lose your financial security. Also, even if you do everything to the desire of your employer, there are outside forces beyond your control that can take your job away from you. Generally, there is a certain pay range that you qualify for based upon your job and you cannot exceed that pay range, unless you develop skills for a different job. A good job provides you with security, but it costs you freedom. Starting your own business is a very freedom way of getting rich. However, you give up security. As a business owner you are free to decide what you want to do, when you want to do it and how you want to do it. If you want to take a two hour lunch instead of a one hour lunch, you can do so and there's nothing anybody can do about it. If you prefer to work 12 hours 3 days a week and take the other 4 days off, as oppose to working 7 hours 5 days a week, you can do so. In fact, once your business reaches a certain level, you will be able to receive money, regardless of whether you show up to work or not. However, this freedom comes at a cost of security. As a business owner especially at the beginning, you are not guaranteed any amount of money. One month your business can bring in a large amount of money and then the very next month, your business brings in a 3rd of what you brought in last month even though you did the exact same thing in both months. Also, if you make mistakes, the money your business did make can be easily taken away from you through lawsuits, fines and mismanagement. The large majority of people that you encounter have a secure mindset. That is why it is very important for you to seek out people with a freedom mindset to encourage you on your financial journey. One of the most difficult things I have had to discover on my journey is the difference between a world of security and a world of freedom. On my job, I know when I'm getting paid, on the 15th and the 30th of each month. I also know how much I'm getting paid. With my business though, I don't have a clue when I'm getting paid and how much. I can put an auction on Ebay for three straight weeks and get no bids and then put up the same auction the fourth week and make the sale, without making any changes to my auction listing whatsoever. I can buy stock and lose money on 5 straight trades and then on my 6th trade I make all the money I lost back and make even more money on top of that. It takes time to adjust to a world of freedom when you have been conditioned to live in a world of security. As a result, you need people of the same mindset to encourage you on the way. |
