Two roadblocks to living your ideal life

To date on the Quest for Freedom Podcast I’ve covered off on
Season 1: Personal freedom (mindfulness, meditation and happiness) Season 2: Business freedom (business sabbaticals, Universal Cycles of Change and letting go) Season 3: Learning Mastery (growth mindset and learning hacks)
And now we come to
Season 4: Lifestyle Freedom (goals and ambition vs lifestyle by design)
Why are you living the lifestyle you're living? If you could wake up tomorrow and do anything you want, would you be doing what you're doing?
I want to talk about how you spend your days, how you spend your time. Are you're doing things because you feel you have to rather than because you want to?
Are you spending your day filled with social media and checking in on things because it makes you feel popular, connected or makes you feel like you're being productive , or is it filled with finishing up work projects because you feel some sense of duty to complete them, even if they’re not a priority?
When I asked myself this question the other day, the one about “What would you do if money wasn’t an issue?” I realised two things:
1) I was living the dream and wouldn’t be anywhere else than our beautiful property we’ve been in for just over six months. In fact I was so content in this new life, that I have even eased back on my goals and ambitions as a result.
2). I want to be doing NOTHING related to what I’m currently doing work wise, well almost. I simply wanted to be on the property, soaking in the birds, nature and beautiful garden. Spending time with Kayla, walking her along the many beautiful, peaceful trails and mountains.
I wanted to be reading more books, painting more art and enjoying the sunshine and blue skies. I wanted to be writing, meditating, exercising learning and everything around personal growth…not teaching business.
Take an honest look at your lifestyle and your current daily schedule.
What do you see? Are your days filled with activities that help you grow as an individual and bring you happiness?
If so, congratulations. You’ve already unlocked the key to living the freedom lifestyle.
If you’re one of the people who are feeling unfulfilled and unhappy with your lifestyle, however, we are going to discuss two of the major emotional roadblocks that prevent you from living a life that allows you to move through life with more freedom.
#1. The first major emotional roadblock that we encounter on paving our way to freedom is GUILT. Guilt manifests itself when we begin taking a look at our day-to-day schedule and figuring out what we need to get rid of in order to feel happier and more free.
There are always things that we tend to do simply because society and or people that we care about expect us to.
Like attending meetings, going to work, attending birthday events or family dinners, making dinner for our family, putting everyone before our own needs.
If we continue to hang onto these activities for these reasons, we will never be able to achieve true lifestyle freedom. How can we eliminate guilt from our lives?
According to clinical psychologist Ali Mattu, there are several actionable steps that we can take to eliminate guilt from our lives:
#1. Facing Your Guilt Head-on. Like any emotion, we have to evaluate and understand our guilt before we are able to take action on moving on from it.
Sit down and look at the events in your day that you will feel guilty ridding of. Figure out where that guilt is coming from and confront it.
#2. Find Someone to Confide in. Talking out your feelings always help you to better work through them and gives you another perspective that helps you approach the situation. Look for someone who is wise and who you trust to talk about this guilt that you have.
#3. Give Yourself Compassion. Guilt is something that we need to let go of immediately. Recognize your guilt, remind yourself that it is okay to feel guilty but that it holds you back from becoming your true self, and move on.
Once you’ve let go of your guilt, you will be able to let go of the things in your life that do not provide you with freedom and happiness.
#2. The second major emotional roadblock that we encounter is FEAR. While guilt prevents us from letting go of things that no longer serve us, fear prevents us from taking action on things that we know are beneficial for us.
We refuse to do the things we want because the outcome may be uncertain and the changes in our lifestyle will create complications for us.
Rather than listening to that timid voice inside of you telling you that you shouldn’t or can’t pursue what you want, here are some ways that you can overcome your fears:
#1. Figure out what it is that has you scared and analyze it Much like the previous tips I mentioned to help you get rid of your guilt, you will have to figure out what is scaring you in order to overcome your fears.
For example, let’s imagine that you want to add more self-care time to your day. In order to do this, you may have to lessen the amount of hours you are working and that may be scary for people who feel the need to work.
Identifying your fear of not working and the issues that come along with not working is absolutely necessary.
#2. Work towards minimizing your fear. You don’t have to immediately start working less hours in order to face your fears. Dip your toe in the water and see the results that come out of your actions.
Start working 10 minutes less than you currently are. Has the world ended?
Has your income increased dramatically? It probably hasn’t just yet.
But as you continue to reduce your hours and therefore focus more on revenue generating activities, you’ll soon see that you’re working less and earning more.
Taking this type of small action will show you that your goal is possible.
#3. Don’t fully invest yourself in the beginning. Encountering your fear fully in the beginning can actually be harmful and counterproductive.
It’s smarter to take small, actionable steps towards overcoming your fear and reaching your goals.
Control over your emotions is necessary if you intend on cultivating lifestyle freedom.
Changes in life often bring a wave of emotions that either catapult us toward our intended destination or drown us in our own self-doubt and hesitation.
You may recall in an earlier episode I talked about how too many changes are dangerous, which I found out the hard way when I flipped my life 180 degrees in a very short amount of time.
But I worked through the highs and lows, pushed through my fears and have come out the other side stronger and more energized than ever, with a new personal brand and mission - to help you achieve more personal daily freedom.
With these tips, you will be able to overcome these strong feelings and find out what is truly best for you.
However, this is only half the battle.
In order to experience these emotions, you will first have to have an idea of what you want to be doing with your time.
In the next episode, we will explore some actions that you can take to discover your ideal lifestyle.
In the meantime, I invite you to register for my upcoming LIVE online workshop on how to Plan Your Ideal Freedom Year.
I have run this for the last two years running and people love it, because in less than 3 hours we map out your entire year ahead, both personally and professionally.
We also look at your goals and dive into your content, editorial and marketing calendar for the next 12 months (if you have an online or offline business).
Then we look at your personal daily schedule to set you up for happiness, success and freedom.
Head to nataliesisson.com/workshop for more details and an earlybird price.