What is Financial Freedom?

Financial Freedom is when you have enough passive income to cover your expenses and you don’t trade time for money anymore.

Financial freedom means different things to different people. To a teenager, it might mean having money to buy things they wanted for a long time.

To someone in retirement age, it might mean never having to work again to earn money.

Generally speaking, financial freedom simply means never to worry about the food you’ll eat, the bill you’ll have to pay or a roof over your head.

Freedom, in essence, is the ability to live on your own terms.

Imagine going on a vacation, but having to worry about your job instead of enjoying your time with your family or friends.

because the job is where the paychecks come from and your boss knows you are on a vacation but still calling you and bothering you about work-related things.

Being financially free is important not only because you are financially equipped to meet your needs, but also because it has a positive impact on other aspects of your life such as relationships and health.

But only having money doesn’t make you financially free

Financial freedom is about following your passion, making choices that aren’t influenced by your bank account, and living life on your own terms.

It’s important to note here that-

Money alone won’t make you rich or financially free, it’s the freedom that comes from doing what you love and pursuing what brings you joy and happiness and give you a feeling of fulfilment that makes you financially free.

Changing how you think about money will make you more money

Our thoughts, feelings, and beliefs about money are more impactful to our financial future than the investments we choose, or the amount of money that we earn,

If you want to be financially free, you need to change the way you think about money today and let go of whatever has held you back in the past.

Building wealth has more to do with your mindset and how you perceive money than you may think.

“It’s not the lack of desire, ambition or even passion that held back the people from getting wealthy, but the lack of belief in their own ability to make it happen.” Various researches say.

Attaining financial freedom is a process of growth, improvement and gaining spiritual and emotional strength and intelligence.

In other words, the part of you that held you back and kept you less than who you really need to vanish, and a powerful, rich, happy, intelligent you will emerge.

The Laws of Attraction

By now I hope you are familiar with the concept of laws of attraction.

The Laws of attraction essentially outlines the fact that if you really want something with at most certainty,

and you set goals for that and write them down, read every day and day and then visualize that you already have it-

The manifestation of your dreams, wishes and beliefs will eventually turn it into reality.

All that we are is a result of what we have thought.
– Buddha

Of course, Financial Freedom doesn’t come without the work, but when it comes to money, I can personally attest to the importance of changing the way you think about money if you want to keep it flowing into your life.

Some psychological tricks to change the way you think about money

Follow these tricks and you can start leading a way more positive relationship with your finances.

#1 Shift your focus from debt to solution

When you are constantly living in fear of not being able to catch up with your bills and pay off your debt and working paycheck to paycheck, then this fear alone will keep you away from reaching your financial goals.

Shifting your focus from the problem to the solution will, in turn, shift your actions to those things that will make you more money and ultimately get out of the debt.

Where attention goes energy flows, what you focus on grows; it doesn’t matter if the energy is positive or negative.

When you focus on the solution, you start thinking about ways to make more money – may be a second source of income or downsizing your living expenses and ultimately go toward financial freedom.

#2 Money is a terrible master but an excellent servant.

Your money works for you. Not the other way around.

When you are constantly thinking that you need to work for your money, you’ll never make enough money. Think of money as a tool not as a result

Money is generally viewed as a result. We work for money. Something we gain for going to work. Something we lose when it’s spent.

We use it to pay our bills and maintain our lifestyles, but we rarely use it as a tool and let it work for us.

Money is something we have to acquire in exchange for our time and energy.

One of the most prominent differences between the mindset of the wealthy and the rest of the 99% people is that they simply do not view money in this way.

For wealthy people, their success is dependent on their ability to view and use money as a tool for investments and this is the reason they enjoy financial freedom.

Let’s say a person A has Rs. 50 Lakhs lying around and he decides to finance a new car like most people he would buy the car outright or make the payment out of extra Rs.50 lakhs he had.

But, people with a growth mindset for wealth, who view money as a tool, might do something like this:

Place the money in a savings account that yields a 7-8% return and then use the accumulated interest to pay for the car after some time.

Instead of spending money on the car and taking away from that extra million, the wealthy get to keep their Rs. 50 Lakhs and get the car too.

While a very crude example, it very effectively illustrates the major difference in how money is viewed and used by those who consider money as a tool and make money to work for them.

When we start to view money as a tool, we’ve come one step closer to having a mindset of prosperity.

#3 Set high expectation – Don’t accept mediocrity.

While most people set their financial expectations low so they’re never disappointed, the wealthy set their expectations exceptionally high. Why?

We are in India raised to think that we needed to go to school, get an education, get a well-paying job and build a cushy retirement fund and boom!! We have lived a successful life.

But, the richest people in the world also happen to have jobs, which they are extremely passionate about, a job where they love to show up every single day. Should it be considered a luxury to love what you do for a living? I don’t think so.

When you shift from short-term savings to long-term earnings and start prioritizing it, you are on your way to financial freedom

Poor people usually are scared to take risks, but the wealthy person knows that taking chances will take them out of that mediocre salary range.

Wealthy people are up for any challenge. They set ambitious goals and immediately start tackling them.

Like the saying “Champions don’t wait for things to happen, they make things happen”

#4  Always believe that you have enough money

The most dangerous feeling is “I don’t have enough money” and most dangerous words are” I can’t afford it”.

Never believe you don’t have enough money. That’s like starting from the bottom and never recovering, no matter how hard you work.

Changing your mindset will be the first step in working towards an abundance mentality. You have to work hard but with the abundance mindset, you won’t set yourself for failure.

This is probably the hardest thing to change, but believe me, it will make the most difference.

The positive relationship with money starts by believing that you have enough, that you are enough.

Because, if you don’t you’re always going to attract negative feeling towards money. Which later is very hard to let go?

#5 Invest your earning

There are many benefits to investing early and often, but unfortunately, too many people either don’t save enough money to invest or they are sitting on the sidelines because they worry about the risk of losing their money.

If you feel this way, you may just need to take some time to learn more about what’s involved with investing. Because financial education leads to financial freedom, you cannot always rely on some guy to invest your money.

You need to get actively involved in investing, and it’s important to understand that nobody can guarantee you that you won’t lose your money while investing but, by acquiring financial knowledge you can minimize the risk.

You need to know why it’s important to get off the sidelines and get in the game, and also you need to know how to avoid excessive risks while taking advantage of potential returns.

Here’s what you should know before dipping a toe into the markets.

Know how to deal with the fear of investing – All investments come with risk but letting your money sit in cash presents its own risk, the risk of losing purchasing power due to inflation.

1. Understand the power of compounding – Compounding returns are the driving force that makes investing so powerful.
2. Know how much of your portfolio should be in equitie.- When you invest, you need to know how to split your portfolio up between equity and fixed income, or stocks versus bonds.
3. Know where to put your money when you actually start.-Mutual funds and exchange-traded funds are a good place to start because rather than picking individual stocks

Final Word

Financial freedom isn’t anything that only a few people can attain it’s for all of us. Anyone can become financially independent and live our lives like the way we want to.

I’ll be posting here blogs which will help you in your journey to becoming financially free.

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