Let’s talk about what it means to live freely.
Freedom is funny. It’s one of those things that we’re told we have, but life and beliefs tend to contradict that.
We are told we are free, but yet we are supposed to go to school, to get a job, to get married, to have kids, and to retire before we start living our life – the few years we have remaining after retirement.
When we think about living freely, we all want it. The only thing is that we rarely know what to do in order to achieve that freedom. We don’t make the right choices or changes in our lives needed to reach that level of freedom.
Day in and day out, we repeat the same old routines, keep living a life consumed by the same fears and worries, the same stress, and the same illusion that someday (far too late in life), we will finally be free.
That’s not what life is about. Life is about living freely; today, tomorrow, the day after that, and every day for the rest of our lives.
How To Live Freely
So how do you actually live freely?
I got to be honest, I am figuring this out as well, but here are some of the things I am focusing on.
1. Don’t Limit Yourself
When it comes to living freely, I am trying to focus on not limiting myself or my ideas.
To give you some context as to what I mean, we are often told to follow a certain path or a certain field. In school, we choose a major based on one specific field. In our careers, we often focus on one line of work. With blogging, podcasting, and YouTube (things I am interested in), we are told to focus on one niche.
But what if I don’t want my life to be focused on one niche? What if I think I am worth more than the limitations of one niche? Does that mean I shouldn’t pursue all of my dreams, goals, and ideas?
Some would say yes. Some would choose to focus on one niche. But not me. I just don’t see that as living freely.
Instead, I am choosing to focus on what I find interesting at this given moment. Today it might be health, tomorrow it might be family, in a few days it might be money. Regardless, we all have different interests and life simply moves too fast to only limit yourself to one.
So, what can you do? Don’t limit yourself. Do what your heart is telling you to do each and every single day, even if that’s something different than the day prior. Don’t limit yourself and you’ll be on your way to living freely.
2. Ditch Expectations
Expect nothing, accept everything.
We expect so much from ourselves, all the time. And when something doesn’t turn out the way we want it to, we become disappointed and start doubting our abilities. As a result, we talk negatively about ourselves and lose hope.
Before we go any further, we need to realize how ridiculous it is to expect that we are going to achieve every single idea that passes through our mind. That’s not to say that we aren’t good enough. That’s simply saying that we don’t have enough time to pursue every idea that comes to mind. We think around 50,000 thoughts a day – most of which we aren’t even aware of.
When it comes to others, ditch the expectation that they know exactly how you’re feeling without you even speaking. Ditch the expectation that everyone is like you and wants the same things out of life as you do. We are all different, and that’s the beauty of being our individual selves. We all want different things out of life, so ditch the expectation that it’s your way or the highway, and simply be open and accepting of change.
When it comes to you, ditch the expectation of being perfect. There is no other expectation that is as limiting as the expectation of being perfect. We all have an idea for what we want, but sometimes the idea of not living up to what we want prevents us from moving forward. The thing is, unless you’re willing to at least try, you’re never going to know what you could have achieved.
We should learn to accept and adapt to the world and the constant changes that are occurring around us. When we do, that will save us so much stress and a lot of time and energy.
3. Do More Of What You Love
If you aren’t loving what you’re doing, you’re not living freely.
In fact, so many of us aren’t. That’s why we sit around all day and dream of a life we aren’t currently living. It’s not to say that we aren’t grateful for the one we have, but we feel like something is missing or that there’s something more we just haven’t quite yet done.
Let me tell you what that means to me.
I love traveling. I love Boston, I love sharing my thoughts with the world, I love my family, and I love my life.
For me, living freely would mean being a motivational speaker who travels the world and gets to see so many amazing and unique places. When I wouldn’t be traveling, I would call the Sea Port District in Boston my home, walk the beautiful cobblestone streets each and every single day, and continue to work and be open about my life experiences to help inspire others to make positive changes in their lives as well.
All of this while continuing to be as close to my family as humanly possible. We would go on vacations together, share laughs, create memories, ahhhh the day that this is going to come true… just thinking about it is exciting for me.
To me, that’s part of living freely – doing what you love each and every single day.
4. Be Your Authentic Self
You can’t live freely if you aren’t being your authentic self. Being your authentic self means being who you want to be without worrying about what others think of you. It means doing what you want to be doing with your life, chasing your dreams, and living your best life each and every single day.
Being your true authentic self means that what you say in life aligns with what your actions. This means, you are being your true self through your thoughts, words, and actions. It goes beyond what your job title is, what possessions you own, or a role you play for someone (e.g. sister, best friend, wife). It’s about acting, speaking, and living by what you believe in.
This means disregarding the expectations others have for you. It doesn’t mean that you don’t care about others, you just have different plans for your life and want to achieve that feeling of internal happiness.
For me, being my authentic self means being open about my life regardless of what others think. It means speaking my mind, doing what I find enjoyable, and not living my life based on the opinions and judgment of others.
Do I sometimes find myself struggling with this? Absolutely! But I am a work in progress, and I am only trying to become the best that I can be each and every single day.
5. Embrace All The World Offers
I personally believe it’s important for everyone to get out and travel the world. Not only is traveling fun, but you also learn so much about others, about different cultures, you get to see amazing and unique places, and you also learn a lot about yourself along the way.
When you are traveling, it feels as though there are no limitations. It’s as though all of your stress vanishes, you don’t worry about the past and aren’t focused on the future. The only moment that matters is the moment you are in now.
To live freely is to embrace all that the world has to offer. It means embracing the constant change we experience, all of the people that live in this world, the unique traits that make us all different, and it means to embrace each other and love each other.
6. Let Go Of Control
Almost everyone feels the need to control everything. When we are put into uncomfortable situations, our desire to have control only strengthens. This is because we like to go back to what brings us comfort and we find comfort in having control over life.
The downside is that we put too much emphasis on making plans and strategies to where we block out any additional possibilities. But what we fail to realize is that control is actually nothing more than an illusion. Instead of seeking control over more, we should actually focus on controlling less, embracing our insecurities, and choose to live each moment knowing that it could be our last. If it’s not our last, every moment thereafter is simply a blessing.
Things are really never as bad as we make them out to be. Don’t resort back to what’s comfortable. Try to find that internal strength to keep moving forward and keep progressing towards the life you envision for yourself. The more you branch out, the more mistakes you will make. The more mistakes you make the more you will learn. The more you learn, the stronger you’ll become and the better your life will be. That’s how you will live freely.
What’s The Next Best Thing
What’s the next best thing that you can do for yourself to get from where you are now to where you want to be in life?
Life is meant to be the most amazing gift in the universe. It’s time to start enjoying your life to the fullest and it’s time to start living freely.
Michael Bonnell
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