Yesterday, I was having tea with girlfriends after visiting a late night viewing at one of London’s beautiful art galleries. I had not seen one of them for nearly a year and she was keen to hear about my new entrepreneurial lifestyle. The first thing she told me was that it must be amazing to have that amount of freedom in my life and be completely in charge of my schedule. The truth is: it is absolutely amazing. But what many people don’t realise is that being an entrepreneur or self-employed does not automatically equal enjoying real freedom in your life.
Freedom is a big part of the appeal of entrepreneurial lifestyle. I see expressions such as freedom-based lifestyle and entrepreneurial lifestyle being used interchangeably in the entrepreneurial community. Indeed, being your own boss and not having to go to the office every day is quite liberating but, it does not necessarily give you freedom you desire from day one.
I have worked with women who, despite being their own boss, feel stuck in their daily routine. One woman shared with me that she didn’t remember the last time she took a holiday or did something just for herself.
First we need to accept that freedom, just like happiness and success, looks differently to different people. For you, real freedom may be the ability to be in change of their schedule and only work three hours per day. It could be your ability to decide what to wear each day and how to express yourself through style (I have heard this one from several people, especially after legal and finance sector jobs). Or perhaps what makes you feel really free is an ability to travel whenever you want and work from any location (this one is huge for me).
Freedom is a feeling, a state of mind. It goes far beyond being self-employed, not needing to leave the house in the morning and even beyond being location independent. True freedom lies in your ability to live your life in the way that inspires you, to express your truth, to work in a way that appeals to you, to feel good in your body, to have financial freedom to live the lifestyle you desire, to have access to resources you require.
How you can create more freedom in your life today
I invite you to answer two questions below and read on to find out what is the one thing that will help you to experience more freedom daily.
What does freedom mean to you?
It is important to ground for yourself what experiences enable you to feel free.
For me, freedom is made up of many experiences:
wearing fine jewellery when working from home
choosing who to work with and how
working in a way that is fun for me
travelling as often as I like
expressing my truth
embodying my natural style
choosing who I want to have in my life and who is not at this moment enriching my life
laughing when I feel like laughing
expressing my emotions openly
saying no when I mean no
being in charge of my schedule and adjusting it to suit my lifestyle, for example Mondays are my play days
nurturing myself between 1 and 2 hours every morning with my morning routine…
What makes you feel free could be very different from what I shared. It is not enough to think I am self-employed therefore I am free. When specifically do you feel free? It is entirely possible to be your own boss and not experience freedom because as a boss you are ten times stricter than the one in your last job. It may be that you work much harder now, spending many hours in front of your computer, never leaving the house.
If you are self-employed, I encourage you to think beyond working in pyjamas all day. It’s nice every once in a while. However what I found and heard from many other women is: there is so much freedom to be found in making an effort just for yourself. If you are in a corporate job, it is equally important to ground what makes you feel free.
What takes away your feeling of freedom?
It may seem like the answer is obvious – not doing what you listed in answers to question one. But it is not necessarily the case. Answering this question will give you further insights into how you can experience more freedom in your life today.
For me, one thing that makes me feel really restricted is rushing. I used to hate rushing every morning when I worked in an office for over 10 years, then rushing to eat my lunch so I could get back to work quicker, rushing from a meeting to meeting. This for me is the absolute opposite of what freedom feels like. So even today, when I am working for myself, I need to be very aware of this and ensure I give myself enough time so I don’t feel rushed and deprived of freedom.
What is the opposite of freedom to you? Is it not being able to speak up your mind, to say no to someone when you are already overstretched? Only when you know what it is can you transform it.
The one thing that will help you to experience more freedom daily…
…is structure.
It may sound contradictory but to enjoy a lot of freedom in your life, you need certain structured that support this freedom. Often without structures freedom is just chaos. Structures does not have to be boring and overwhelming. Quite the opposite, they need to be supportive and nurturing. Think of how you can structure your day, week, month in a way that will enable you to experience more of what you listed in your answers above. What time do you need to wake up to experience freedom every day? What time would you like to finish work?
Freedom is having time to enjoy the what brings you pleasure in life. These need scheduling, especially things like mediation, morning routine and your free time to do whatever you feel called to. I am not talking about rigid schedules that make you feel stressed not free. After all, you are free to change your mind.
I would love to hear from you
What make you feel free? How important freedom is on your list of values? When was the last time you felt really free? Please share in the comments area below.
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