More Useful Than A Quiz In Cosmo: Are You Cut Out For Financial Freedom?
06.3.2009 in Become A True Entrepreneur, Grow Yourself, Grow Your Wealth by Josh
Whether you’re just wondering about starting a business or already building one, it’s important to consider the difference between financial security and financial freedom. One is not necessarily better than the other. It just depends on your value set and point of view, but you should firmly grasp which one you really want. Knowing that will carry you through the up’s and down’s of this process.
Everyone says they’d like financial freedom. Freedom from debt. Freedom from their boss. Freedom from worry about which will run out first: their money or the month. Why is it then that as soon as you mention your sincere (and apparently naïve) desire to achieve this goal that you’re met with patronizing smiles or outright hostility? Ever hear “Not in this life” or “That’s not possible for normal people” or the ever classic “Whatever”? Maybe you’ve been accused of greed or selfishness, maybe even shallowness? I’ve heard them all, plenty of times.
People are generally discouraging because they simply lack what it takes to attain financial freedom. As much as we tout our independence, the simple fact is that most people feel more comfortable putting themselves in a box so long as they have the illusion of choosing which box confines them. It’s a value judgement, really. For the vast majority freedom is good, but security is better. In financial terms, security comes in the form of a steady job with benefits, while freedom comes from starting your own business.
I would like to make this very clear. Financial security and freedom are vastly different approaches to life. Read those last few words again. Approaches to life. Pursuit of one over the other speaks to particular value sets, and they are mutually exclusive. You just need to decide which value set you have and then work within that.
Security
Are you master of your of your financial future, or slave to it?
A job will give you money. Maybe even a lot of it. Jobs provide security in that you know that at very specific time periods you’re going to get a specific sum of money. You know that over time that amount will increase, and that if you learn new skills you may be able to increase that amount of money even more. As an added bonus, you even get some retirement planning and healthcare. All great things, but they come at the cost of freedom.
Your employer owns you for eight hours a day. You show up when they say to, do what they say to and how they tell you to do it, break when they say to, eat when they say to, stop when they say to. In fact, if you break this agreement they can end your employment and take away your security. Play the game though, and you’ll probably be fine…barring any unforeseen circumstances or other things that may be out of your control.
Freedom
Starting a business will give you money. Maybe even a lot of it. When you start a business, you’re free show up when you want to, do what you think you should do, decide how you’re going to do it, break when you want to, take a three hour lunch if you want to. You’re completely free to run your business as you see fit and work on what you feel will bring value. However, you don’t have much in the way of security, particularly in the beginning stages of your business. You might run out of capital, you might mess up your taxes and get fined, no one may want your product, someone else may offer a better a product or provide a better service. In short, you may pour in a ton of work and in the end have nothing to show for it.
You can see now why most seek out security rather than freedom. Freedom is scary, to be honest. A job pays you every Friday. A business might pay you this week, it might not. Some of us thrive though in this unknown because of the potential, and we turn that fear into the motivation that propels us to fulfill our potential and reap success.
If you’re going to seek financial freedom, then you need to seek out others that share your values to encourage you on your journey. Take a look at my Blog Roll at the bottom of the page. You’ll find links to all kinds of knowledge, advice, and most importantly encouragement in your pursuit of financial freedom.
Work hard, put in your time now, and eventually you will find the freedom you desire.
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