I am an entrepreneur today for good reason. Freedom. What I have learned about freedom, from both history books, clients, and my own life, is that it really doesn’t come easily. Sometimes it flows to you divinely. Other times, it comes your way in disguise, like a job loss. Often, freedom demands a battle, either externally or within yourself.
Change is always part of the path to freedom. If you want to feel more free in your life, what can you get in flow with, fight for or see an opportunity?
Twenty plus years ago, I felt restricted, bound by a structure I didn’t create and didn’t love. I worked for people I didn’t love and did work I didn’t find particularly meaningful outside the walls of my company. And I really didn’t like the navy suit with the bow tie, mandatory for corporate accountants back then.
It always felt lacking so I stopped my corporate career. With the intention to be an entrepreneur like those whom I had consulted, I raised children and helped my husband with his dental practice while ramping up my company. Many transitions later, I sit at a new juncture, and a profound one.
Kids are older and seeking their own independence, and my role in my husband’s work is a “wrap.” The 6 months I planned to help him, turned to 8 years practically overnight. In this area, I will admit I lost the consciousness that I have in other areas, and talk about all the time.
I had assigned myself enormous responsibility and was really, really “busy.” I started to hear myself use that word constantly and realized that “busy” was indicative of me operating unconsciously, unintentionally and out of alignment with my vision. It was my external life and my internal resistance working in tandem to keep me from reaching higher goals.
It was the antithesis of freedom.
I am banning that word (busy) from my vocabulary as it creates an excuse for living life on a treadmill. Does it happen at times? Of course. Can it go on too long? Absolutely. That’s when alarm bells need to sound to prevent life from passing you by as you live in a state of unconscious movement that gets you through things and not to things.
I want to tell you about my client Kathryn. She is smart, driven, super hard working, a busy mom and highly successful entrepreneur (and a lovely person). While already earning more than 99% of the population, she was set on reaching new levels for herself. She is completely self-made and knew herself to be capable of more. She was, however, so, so busy, and she literally couldn’t work any more hours or any faster than she was.
We sat down and worked on her relationship with money, starting by identifying her money archetypes and understanding her underlying money beliefs. She immediately was able to identify areas where she had been holding herself back with old beliefs and patterns that helped her succeed but were now preventing her from scaling her business.
Changing her money beliefs allowed her to see her operations in a new way, with new options (uncomfortable but sound ones). One of her archetypes was one I call “Accumulator.” This name is symbolic of one whose beliefs drive them to save money, act in responsible ways financially, steer clear of risks, big expenditures, and debt and generally take fiscally smart actions.
While the “accumulator style” decisions had helped build her business, they were now holding her hostage and keeping her from hiring the people she needed and investing in other ways to grow past this point. They were keeping her engaged in all aspects of her business and preventing her from letting go of activities, so she could focus her energy where it made the biggest impact.
It was difficult to see a way out and a clear path to her goals, which were clearly defined. She had to think differently, to act differently and make decisions from a new belief system. She has, and the results have been amazing.
Her income has increased, but more than that she is building a team and rebuilding the whole infrastructure of her business to prepare it for the future vision which is designed to free up her time, blow the doors off her bank account and allow her to enjoy her life.
It has not been easy and she has had to battle her own thinking, fear, and an established structure. She has also had to see new possibilities and opportunities and have faith in the flow of new systems and people.
What words might be worth noticing for you? Do you want more freedom, yet feel stuck? Are you telling yourself you can’t because _____________? How do you fill in the blank – can’t afford, too busy, too unhealthy, not enough education, too much responsibility?
These reasons might be real, I get that. I also know there are ways out and up. Your situation might require more flow or a full out fight, but if it’s worth the effort to you, you can make the changes that will add freedom to your life.
Imagine in detail your personal vision of freedom in your work and life, and take care of the vision. When you are ready or just fed up, get into the fray, see what you can create. Let freedom ring.
“Men suffer more from imagining too little than too much.” From “The Greatest Showman”
