Achieving personal freedom demands more attention and care than a regular 9-to-5 job.
Keeping your Personal Freedom demands even more from you.
When you’re self-paid, you have no one to force you into action. You have no boss counting every minute of time you spend at work. You have no coworker to whom you must deliver the job.
See, something funny happens when you quit your 9-to-5 in order to pay 100% attention to your own stuff.
You’ll find yourself with little to no time constraints, as you control over of your time. So, in some weird way, it’s harder to achieve stuff as you are not beholden to other people but to yourself.
Personal Freedom requires you to have God’s Discipline to make things happen.
Working for yourself is not as glamorous as it may seem… freedom has a huge cost: discipline.
Why am I telling you this?
The #2 reason why people stay broke is their lack of discipline.
The #1 reason is people are disciplined with the wrong stuff.
You could be the most disciplined bastard in the wild, wild west but, let’s be honest, there’s zero value in focusing on the wrong stuff.
Have you ever heard the phrase, “Stop being busy and start being productive”?
Why do you think this phrase became a cliché? Because it’s 100% accurate.
You’ll not get far by working on braindead tasks. For example, there’s little value on keeping your desk clean (it’s important, but not that important).
Most people focus on the wrong things: which font size, which color, how long should the video be, which productivity app to use, which gadget they need, how many hours will it take to complete the project, etc.
Anyway, what I want you to take from this short article is that at the end of the day, being discipline with the RIGHT stuff is what helps you keep adding zeros to your bank account. And, more importantly, achieve your Personal Freedom.
So, here are five things you should be focusing on to become more disciplined, live a better life, and stop being broke.
1. Focus on your identity, rather than the goal.
When you’re trying to change your behavior, stop focusing on the goal you’re trying to achieve.
Instead, focus on changing your identity.
Let me give you two examples:
- If you want to lose weight, start to think of yourself as an athlete. This crazy mindset hack can do wonders for your levels of self-discipline.
- If you want to write more, think of yourself as an author.
- If you want to design more, think of yourself as a designer.
Try it. It worked for me. It might just work for you.
2. Frequently remind yourself of why you’re being disciplined in the first place.
Having a strong why for your actions is paramount. This goes hand-in-hand with your identity.
Here’s a piece of actionable advice for you: write down exactly why you want to be more disciplined on a piece of paper, stick this in a visible place, and read it every day if you must.
write down exactly why you want to be more disciplined on a piece of paper. Stick this in a visible place. And read it every day if you must.
3. Embrace discomfort.
Every time you embrace the discomfort, you become more powerful.
Doing one more repetition when you don’t want to do more, is how you grow.
Working for an extra minute when you don’t want to, is where you grow.
4. Start with your biological fundamentals needs.
- Sleeping: sleep between 7 and 8 hours each day.
- Nutrition: lower your sugar and processed food intake.
- Exercise: move more.
Pay extra attention to these fundamentals.
These biological needs will always be more important than anything else. There’s no magic behind them.
You’ll require a lot of energy to function at peak levels. So focusing on sleeping correctly, eating healthy and moving more will give you the energy you need.
5. Always be selling.
Whether you notice or not, you’re always selling.
Just take a look at all the selfies you’ve posted on your Instagram profile. What story do they tell about you? Well, that’s the story you’re telling to the world.
Be in constant lookout for new clients, new business opportunities, new ways to offer more in less time and with fewer resources. Make it your top goal of the day to promote your offers prolifically online and offline.
Become aware of all the opportunities you have in front of you to thrive. Take full advantage of as many as you can.
And finally, always be raising your prices.
