Summary: Freedom comes in multiple stages. You can't be free if you are a slave to your emotions. You can't be free if you are "stuck" in a job you hate. You can't be free if half the money you earn goes to a gang of thugs that don't use it to benefit your life- or society for that matter. And you can't be free if you limit yourself to 2-week vacations if you want to see the world. The 5 stepping stones to more freedom is a simple plan: 1. Take control of your emotions. Start with the basics- yourself! Is your emotional state where you would like it to be? If not, this is the best place to start your freedom quest. The best thing I did in this realm was to read Nathaniel Branden's books on improving self esteem. Not just reading the books, but going through many sentence completion exercises allowed me to see much more deeply into myself= who I am, what drives me, why I've made certain choices, and what kinds of things make me happy. Once you've got a pretty good handle here, move on to communication. Check out Non-Violent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg if you want to improve your relationships, make more friends, and get to deeper levels with people you may have previously written off. 2. Plan to become financially free. Understand what it is you need. It's probably less than what you think. When people like Wandering Earl can travel the world while making $1000/month, excuses start to run out. Ask yourself, is time or money more important? Is stuff or are experiences more important? Maybe both are equally important. Make a plan for what you need to achieve the lifestyle you want. 3. Create a business that doesn't tie you to a specific location. Maybe you want to travel the world. Maybe you don't. But having the option is a freedom in itself. Maybe you have kids and think it's not possible? Think again! Pete Sisco has become a digital nomad, traveling the world, and he has 6 kids. Dream big in this realm. Plan on getting what you want instead of settling. Why not? Life is short and keep in mind that nothing is ever "too late". 4. If you make it past step #3 and start building financial freedom and more passive income, you will eventually need to start protecting this income so you're not giving it up to the vultures out there who want to take what's rightfully yours. I know this sounds like the most boring part of business ever, but setting up your entity is essential to "living free in an unfree world"! What makes the most sense? Maybe for now it's just being a sole proprietor, the easiest setup. I chose the next simplest setup- an LLC. I would say, don't go with the heard here! I started with a Nevada LLC like so many people told me to do, but with the yearly fees and the very limited protection I was getting, I dumped that setup in favor of a New Mexico LLC. The advantage here is the anonymity you can have with a New Mexico LLC. It's the only state that allows you to not have your name on the company documents! Who needs to even go offshore? 5. The fifth and most advanced step is banking. There are so many reasons to have a bank account offshore besides just sounding like an international man (or woman) of mystery. Desperate governments around the world have taken to stealing people's money to try to save their sinking ships. Protecting your wealth from these foolish vultures is not only legal, but is essential if you either 1) want to keep what's yours, and/or 2) don't believe in theft. While places like Singapore and Hong Kong will likely be safe places to keep money for a while, there are also emerging places to set up offshore. If you were able to get squared away with all five of the above, you still are not 100% free! However, you've likely achieved about as much freedom as possible in our current unfree world, and much more than 99.9% of the world. So take it in chunks, start with the easy stuff, then just put one foot in front of the other and enjoy the journey!
