It is now fashionable for everybody to talk about financial freedom. However not many people are actually ready for it.

Being financially free means not having to care about what people think. Of your life, your house, your job, your business, your hobbies….as long as you are worried about what others think, you are still trapped. If you are trapped you are NOT FREE. Perhaps you do not seek financial freedom, but please stop pretending that you do.

What are the characteristics to show that you are ready for financially free (believe me it is a matter of attitude, not a quantity of money)…

1. Your opinion about yourself is what you care/ worry about, you do not care what others think: If you are doing business you do what is good for the client, employee, shareholder, no there is no conflict. The thing to do is what you do, not what looks to the outside world. So you do poor feeding for the kids in your village and there is no PR benefit of doing this. You paid Rs. 8L to a peon whose wife needed surgery and that guy did not have any cash….hey but nobody knows about that. You take up work which absorbs the slack in your human availability, but it is not glamorous, but it makes money. So you now do what is right, not what looks right. Have met many people whose sole aim in life is to sound and look correct even if they make no money!!
2. You do things to enjoy them: So you go for a run (you are a slow runner) because you enjoy running. Not because you can net work, sell, impress, …You do not run to collect finisher’s medals, you do not practice to boast on Social Media, you practice to improve as a runner. You are serious about running -so you manage your running to get better at that. You are not playing Golf to network or impress clients!
3. You speak the truth about your business, income, future plans, retirement, business contacts. this is de-stressing. When you are living for others you end up telling lies – this shows up in the annual letter to the shareholder. Do not worry your shareholders do not actually care, by now they know you are a liar.
4. You stopped telling others how great you are: you used to claim greatness with all your deeds and misdeeds. You claimed that all the good in your life was because of your strategic greatness, and all wrong because somebody cheated you. Gimme a break. You are in your ego trap, you have high ‘what people will think’ kinda expenses, charities, show off expenses…..etc.
5. You are prepared to say NO to people who ask for a share of your wallet, time or anything else.

If you cannot do these things you are still trapped in ‘what others think’. So your job, business, hobbies, travel, etc. are all to impress others. You boast about your place of stay, mode of travel, travel destination, business, employees, and you are striving for recognition. You crave for love which you cannot find in your personal relationships. You give gifts far beyond people’s expectations. You try to impress everybody from a young kid to an old person……

If these are true, you cannot be free. Ever. The amount of money you have does not matter. Freedom is an attitude…..sorry for rubbing in the salt…