POSITIVE THINKING TIP: FINANCIAL FREEDOM DOES NOT CREATE PEACE OF MIND; IT BEGINS WITH PEACE OF MIND.
If you’re not actively pursuing a dream of your own, you may be a passenger in someone else’s boat, going to the destination of their choice.
Now, that can a great place to be, if you believe the captain knows what he’s doing, and if you trust that he’s taking you and the crew somewhere important and wonderful.
But you might determine that the boat you’re on isn’t taking you where you want to go financially.
You have options; there are other boats passing by headed for other destinations, but it isn’t always easy to find a vessel that has all of the benefits you’d like, and one which will welcome you aboard.
So, you might vessel-hop for a while, until you find one that seems perfect for you.
Maybe your “perfect” ship travels quickly, provides abundantly for all your wants and needs, and is so big that you can’t even feel the waves beating against it.
But there’s no guarantee that it won’t spring a leak, and that the captain won’t send you away in a little dinghy without long-term supplies. It’s even possible that you’ll just have to abandon ship altogether with not so much as a life vest. Maybe you end up just treading water, hoping for another ship to come along before you go under for good.
Have you ever felt that way?
For the entrepreneur at heart, it doesn’t matter how big, fast, and beautiful the boat is; traveling in someone else’s vessel will never completely fulfill his/her needs. There’s something inside that says, “I may be headed in the right direction on this vessel, but I won’t rest until I’m steering my own ship. I need the freedom to change course directions at will.”
Whether you leave the ship by choice or not, finding yourself in the water can be terrifying, especially if you never learned how to swim.
Think about it: what is the natural reaction of a non-swimmers who are thrown into deep waters?
They panic, and thrash violently. They become consumed with the fear of, “What if I go under and can’t come back up?!” Full of adrenaline and in order to avoid the worst, they claw and pound the water, in a frantic effort to stay afloat.
Eventually, if they don’t get some help, they go under out of sheer exhaustion.
If you’ve had to “abandon ship” recently, leaving your regular source of income to go out on your own in search of another boat, you may feel like the non-swimmer, fully exposed to choppy waters, surrounded by the mysterious depths, and at risk of drowning in bills and other pressures.
The natural inclination is to panic, and work too hard frantically trying to stay afloat – ultimately wearing yourself out and sinking into despair.
The truth is, that the principles which keep a new swimmer afloat in the water are the same principles that keep you afloat financially… and here they are:
- Take a deep breath,
- Relax, and
- Keep your chin up
That’s how you stay afloat in the water, and that’s how you stay afloat financially, too.
Financial freedom does not create peace of mind; financial freedom begins with peace of mind.
Only after you discover that you can float, will you be able to learn how to swim efficiently. People who enjoy financial freedom have learned to swim in choppy waters without being overcome by exhaustion.
And it only works when you stay calm. When you are calm, you float; not just in water, but with finances, too.
Discover the truth of this and you may also discover that swimming peacefully allows you to get where you want to go without a boat at all.
(The unseen current can take you farther than you ever thought possible, if you let it… if you don’t fight it.)
So, breathe… relax… keep your chin up… and trust the current to take you to the next boat or port on your journey to financial freedom.