I talk an awful lot about freedom here because it is my highest value.
I don’t like anything that limits my time, resources, capabilities, and ability to make decisions.
We can argue both sides of why this has benefits and drawbacks, but the truth remains that it is my highest value.
I believed at one point that freedom was money and the time to enjoy what the money can do for me and others.
This is true but only a fraction of what freedom means to me now.
As I have seen financial freedom become my reality and am able to make so many of my lifelong dreams and aspirations come true, I am smacked in the face with how many ways I am still trapped and bound with chains of my own making.
Just as I reach the summit of years of hard work, patience, grueling self work, and personal development in order to finally realize a huge personal goal, I see that I am only on the foothills of a much more massive journey.
It is somewhat disheartening, but honestly should have been expected as I know completely that we are never done learning and doing the work on ourselves seeking an end that will honestly never be reached.
Let me tell you what I’m talking about:
I still lay in bed on days I have to do hard things and distract myself in any way possible in order to not have to get up.
I still find myself looking ahead at the next task at hand worrying about the future and avoiding the past instead of enjoying the moment.
I still struggle at every level with intimacy and trust and I hurt the people closest to me because of this.
I still feel deep feelings of unworthiness and “not enough”-ness in many areas of my life.
It’s literally like I am only scratching the surface.
It all feels a little overwhelming.
I believe that life gives us whatever we want.
However, we are often not big enough containers to hold it all.
It requires us to BE a bigger container.
If you want to have more wealth, you must BE someone who is able to create and hold onto it.
Once you are that person, you will DO the things a wealthy person DOES and HAVE the wealth.
It happens in that order.
I believe that principle applies in every area of life.
If you want a beautiful and great person in your life, then be that person.
A sack of shit will only bring the same type of person and life into his or her close environment.
Please know, I am speaking from experience here.
I have always attracted people and things that validated my biggest fears.
The happy news is that the people in my life continually get better and better which is a compliment to the way I have started to be and live.
So, what is the next step?
I will do what I have always done when faced with a ridiculously, gargantuan, ginormous, (yeah it’s a word) monumental task.
I will start taking action and moving in the direction I think I need to go.
If I’m wrong, then I will correct course, but I won’t know that until I’m moving (success principle).
If this sounds overwhelming, then let me share with you my secret weapon:
Compounding.
Albert Einstein said compound interest is the 8th wonder of the world.
It is literally the greatest force on earth and is present in EVERYTHING.
I once foolishly believed that it only applied to money and I am going to use math here to demonstrate why I feel the way I do about it.
If you take a dollar and add one percent to that dollar every day, the first day you earn a cent.
Then, you add one percent to your new total every single day, it seems like nothing is happening at first.
It feels like the slowest grind ever.
Well, guess what?
After 70 days, the total has doubled to $2.
It’s not a hundred days.
After one year, the total has grown to over $37!!!
I know that doesn’t sound life changing, but after 3 years of the one percent daily growth, it amounts to over $40,000.
That’s starting with $1 and only growing at 1% every single day.
Imagine a larger starting amount and faster growth!
The numbers after 3 years just start to get ridiculous.
Well, what if you just got 1% better at some aspect of your life every single day?
It could be physical activity, musical instruments, writing, or anything.
The biggest problem here is that people don’t follow through.
They get 2-3 weeks in and since they see what looks like such miniscule results they give up.
They never allow the momentum of compounding to build in their lives to get the results they want.
You have to allow time to do its thing.
Getting better at something for 2-3 years is hard.
I agree.
However, compounding is already acting in your life.
It may just be acting in ways that are opposite to what you desire.
We all know that smoking, drinking alcohol, and eating poorly consistently over time will eventually disease and kill you.
It doesn’t kill you today typically, but it’s still compounding the results day in and day out over time until your body is wrecked.
So, the question I have for you is what are going to compound?
I am making changes for myself that are difficult and painful.
This isn’t because I think I’m better than anyone else, but because I know I have to start now and work a little each day so that 0ver time, I can have the people and things in my life that bring me happiness and fulfillment.
Everything is always compounding one way or another.
The next 2-3 years are going to come and go in our lives no matter what action or inaction we take.
My hope for you and me is that it is the direction we want to go.
Thank you for reading.
Phillip Adams
I do incredibly proud of you