Financial Security vs. Financial Freedom
As you begin to embark on your journey to financial freedom, one
thing that you will discover, if you have not already is that
there aren't a lot of people who are going to support your
efforts. You may have shared your desires with others and
receive responses that may surprise you. For example, here are
some of the responses that I have received...
"That is a pipe dream"
"You can't do that"
"You are money hungry and greedy"
Why is it that many people seem to be against your desire to
obtain financial independence? The reason why is because the
steps required to reach financial freedom is too uncomfortable
for most people. Most people would like financial freedom.
However, they value security much more than freedom. As a
result, they give up on their dreams of financial freedom for
the security of a safe, secure job with benefits.
Security and freedom are not the same. They are actually very
different value systems. For example, if you want to make money,
you can make money the secure way, by getting a job, or you can
make money the freedom way, by starting your own business. Let's
contrast the two methods.
Getting a good job is a very secure way of making money. When
you have a job, you know that after a given time period you are
going to get a certain amount of money. Every year or so, your
money is increased a certain percentage if you do a satisfactory
job and if you can learn additional skills you can get a
promotion, which can increase the amount of money you take home.
However, this security comes at a cost of freedom.
Your employer tells you what you have to do, when you have to do
it and how you must do it. Your employer tells you what hours
you must work, when you can take a break, when you can eat
lunch, when you can take a vacation, how long that vacation can
be, etc. If you choose not to do things the way you employer
desires for them to be done, you will lose your employment and
as such you will lose your financial security.
Also, even if you do everything to the desire of your employer,
there are outside forces beyond your control that can take your
job away from you. Generally, there is a certain pay range that
you qualify for based upon your job and you cannot exceed that
pay range, unless you develop skills for a different job. A good
job provides you with security, but it costs you freedom.
Starting your own business is a very freedom way of getting
rich. However, you give up security. As a business owner you are
free to decide what you want to do, when you want to do it and
how you want to do it. If you want to take a two hour lunch
instead of a one hour lunch, you can do so and there's nothing
anybody can do about it. If you prefer to work 12 hours 3 days a
week and take the other 4 days off, as oppose to working 7 hours
5 days a week, you can do so.
In fact, once your business reaches a certain level, you will be
able to receive money, regardless of whether you show up to work
or not. However, this freedom comes at a cost of security. As a
business owner especially at the beginning, you are not
guaranteed any amount of money. One month your business can
bring in a large amount of money and then the very next month,
your business brings in a 3rd of what you brought in last month
even though you did the exact same thing in both months. Also,
if you make mistakes, the money your business did make can be
easily taken away from you through lawsuits, fines and
mismanagement.
The large majority of people that you encounter have a secure
mindset. That is why it is very important for you to seek out
people with a freedom mindset to encourage you on your financial
journey. One of the most difficult things I have had to discover
on my journey is the difference between a world of security and
a world of freedom. On my job, I know when I'm getting paid, on
the 15th and the 30th of each month. I also know how much I'm
getting paid.
With my business though, I don't have a clue when I'm getting
paid and how much. I can put an auction on Ebay for three
straight weeks and get no bids and then put up the same auction
the fourth week and make the sale, without making any changes to
my auction listing whatsoever. I can buy stock and lose money on
5 straight trades and then on my 6th trade I make all the money
I lost back and make even more money on top of that. It takes
time to adjust to a world of freedom when you have been
conditioned to live in a world of security. As a result, you
need people of the same mindset to encourage you on the way