How to Choose Freedom Over Stability
Recently, I was given the opportunity to work on a fairly long-term project that would have guaranteed a significant chunk of income for a few months. The catch? It would eat up an equally significant chunk of the time that I use for freelancing and pursuing personal projects (like my currently-top-secret-but-coming-soon-product).
Ultimately I decided to turn the project down. I chose freedom over stability. But that got me thinking, what can I do to ensure that I continue to choose freedom in the future? Here is what I came up with.
1. Find a little stability
You may be thinking that this sounds like a bit of a contradiction, but I don’t think so. Consider it an innoculation.
Most people need some minimum level of stability in their lives, but that’s not the deal that society typically offers. Instead, society offers us 8 hours a day, 5 days a week stability (not counting commute time) that leaves us without the time or energy to do what we really want.
The stability most people need is much simpler than that: a place to call home, enough money to pay expenses and spend on a few fun things, and that’s about it. In part because I already had those basics met, I was able to resist the lure of additional stability.
2. Work on projects that interfere with the extra stability
Something else that helped was being involved in other projects that directly conflicted with the long-term one. While technically, I could have pursued both, it would have been quite difficult.
The best kind of project for this purpose is something that you’re excited about and gets you moving toward your dreams. For me that includes working on my top-secret product, as well as working on my latest novel. When faced with the choice of projects like these, or one that’s just ho-hum, it makes it a lot easier to choose freedom.
3. Be constantly thinking about your dreams
While the other two ways of resisting are helpful, it is thinking about your dreams that will give you the <strong>motivation</strong> to resist when a little extra stability starts looking tempting. If your dream is to hike from one end of the country to another, plan out your route. If your dream is to visit Rome, figure out what you want to see while you’re there.
A dream is a powerful thing. If you do it right, you might just be able to dream yourself a bit closer to freedom.
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Hi Joshua,
It is tough to make those choices, isn’t it? Most people do strive for stability, but it’s often in that stability that our dreams remain unfulfilled.
You sound like a person who knows what they want out of life, and are willing to sacrifice making a chunk of change so you can pursue your dreams and your “top secret project”. I’m curious as to what that is, so I’ll be eagerly watching your blog in my reader.
@ Barbara: It certainly can be tough to choose well at times. After all, stability is a basic human need. Hopefully I’ll be letting everyone know about my top secret project soon.