Freeing yourself from desires will give you freedom and happiness.

Specifically, I wanted the freedom to do things.

Freedom to drink alcohol legally, drive a car and go out with my friends without permission. When I was 17, I craved it so badly I would have given anything to have the freedoms of a ‘real’ adult.

I centered my young life around maximizing this definition of freedom. I would always book out my weekends, find ways to get alcohol and sometimes joy ride in my parent’s car. I know. I was really stupid.

But that stupidity taught me a lot about myself. Once I got to do those things, I quickly realized how silly they were. Now, as I near my 26th birthday, I’ve realized I still want freedom but just a different type.

Now, I want freedom from things.

Freedom from consumer debt, freedom from working a job I don’t like, freedom from financial insecurity. Freedom from having to interact with people I don’t like and freedom from having to play status games.

Unnecessary debt, toxic people and chasing status are all freedom killers. They are zero-sum. Your increase in status comes at the expense of someone else. Bad debt now comes at the expense of compounding assets later.

Yet I see most of the people around me invest a lot of their time and energy into these things. They constantly compare themselves, buy things they don’t need and surround themselves with shit friends.

Just remember: if you play stupid games, you get stupid rewards.

I want the freedom to wake up and do what I want with my time. To have total control over what my day will look like. Freedom from any obligations that do not bring me joy.

I am taking active steps to simplify my life. I want to free myself from consumer debt, lifestyle inflation and meaningless relationships.

• I still drive a car that is worth less than $4,000 despite making a high income for my age. Some of my friends who make half of what I make go into debt to drive cars I would never dream of buying.

• Over the past couple of years, I’ve said goodbye to high school friends who were great to do stupid stuff with but not so great to build anything meaningful with. There is no hate or animosity. These things happen.

• I contribute to a low-fee diversified Vanguard Index Fund on a regular basis and have consistently contributed to a Superannuation fund since I was young. I have guaranteed that I will retire at 65 years old a multi-millionaire.

• I save 50% of my income. Not for anything in particular. But those savings allow me to quit my job if I wanted to or pursue other opportunities if they came up.

In short, I am using my money to buy time and options for the future. No fancy car, new clothes or luxury goods can compete with the mental clarity and sense of security this provides me.

This strategy is not special or new. People have done it before I have and will continue to do it after I leave. But if these principles are so enduring, why don’t more people do it?

How you set yourself up now, will dictate how you live later. Nothing in life is guaranteed but the actions you take today create momentum for good or bad.

The compounding flywheel moves in both directions. Every day you get to decide which way it spins. Spin wisely and you reap the rewards with less effort. Spin wrongly and you can spend a lifetime trying to catch up.

I’ve started to realize that your level of maturity is determined by the definition of freedom you have. The level of your wealth is measured by how much control you have over your time.

Real wealth is what you don’t see. And being able to control your time always pays the highest dividends.

Why Freedom is Important

In 1961, Angus Campbell’s book ‘The Sense of Wellbeing in America’ found that the most powerful denominator of happiness was simple:

“Having a strong sense of controlling one’s life is a more dependable predictor of positive feelings of wellbeing than any of the objective conditions of life we have considered.”

That was written exactly 60 years ago. You would expect that by 2021, we would be living in a freedom-paradise. Free to choose how we work and how long we vacation. But this is not the case.

“Compared to generations prior, control over your time has diminished. And since controlling your time is such a key happiness influencer, we shouldn’t be surprised that people don’t feel much happier even though we are, on average, richer than ever” writes Morgan Housel.

Freedom is becoming rarer at exactly the same time it is becoming more valuable. Since we now live in an economy where you can monetize your passion, having the freedom to create has a greater premium than before.

You can never really be free if your value is tied to a clock and if someone else can tell you where to be and how to dress. Don’t get me wrong. I still work a 9–5. I have a boss and KPIs. I am by no means completely free.

But every action I take today I make sure that it contributes to giving me more freedom not less. More control over my time not less. This is a value I will not compromise on.

Having total control over doing what you want, when you want, with who you want to, will make the greatest change to your life. Reducing pain points in your life is more effective than consumption.

Freedom is addition by subtraction.

Hedonic adaptation ensures that anything you buy will only give you a momentary squirt of satisfaction. Increasing your freedom and control will turn that squirt into a roaring river.

Freedom naturally involves letting go of things that do not serve you anymore. This includes parts of your own mindset and core beliefs. You will be shedding old parts of you to allow new areas to flourish.

How You Can Increase Your Own Freedom

1. Keep a disproportionate amount of your net worth in cash.

As an investment strategy, this is up there with one of the stupid ones. Keeping your money in a cash account does nothing to improve the return on your investments.

But this is not an investment in financial returns. This is an investment in freedom returns. Keeping disproportionately more cash buys you freedom and flexibility.

Freedom from margin calls or needing to borrow money for when you encounter poor health, a broken-down car, and flexibility to quit that job you hate.

“Savings in the bank that earn 0% interest might actually generate an extraordinary return if they give you the flexibility to take a job with a lower salary but more purpose, or wait for investment opportunities that come when those without flexibility turn desperate.” — Morgan Housel

2. Create multiple sources of income and diverse skill sets.

A lack of diversification is a big risk. Not just in your investments but also in your income and skillsets. If the pandemic taught me one thing is that many people around me were caught with their pants down.

Many relied on one job to completely fund their lifestyle. Without their job, everything else collapsed. Not only did many lose their income but when their industry collapsed, they had no other skill sets to fall back on.

Don’t build your life on a house of cards.

Investing in multiple sources of income — side hustle, investments or a business — provides a hedge against the inevitable shocks of the world. Having a diverse skill set means you can remain valuable in a rapidly changing economy.

“The ability to do things when most others can’t is one of the few things that will set you apart in a world where intelligence is no longer a sustainable advantage.” — Morgan Housel

3. Say no often and put a value on your time.

Drastically reduce your obligations. No matter how small they might seem in the moment. When you say no, you are only saying no to one thing. When you say yes you are saying no to everything else.

That yes to partying all night with your friends is a no to any healthy habits you would have preferred to do. That yes to speaking at an event is a no to all the other opportunities that might come your way.

When I want to say no, but I can’t at the moment, I ask for more time to think it over and get back to them. Once the emotions subside and I can compose myself. I can deliver the no with more conviction and compassion.

I am known around my office to say no to almost everything. Even from those higher up than me. I drastically reduce my obligations so I have more time to read and think. I know this is where I produce the best value for everyone.

If I really can’t say no, I’ll attempt to reduce the commitment. Can the meeting be online instead of face-to-face? Can it be for 30 minutes instead of 60 minutes? People will only value your time as much as you do.

I’ve started to think of my aspirational hourly rate. I usually peg it for around $150 — $300 an hour. If an event, meeting or commitment does not produce the same value as my hourly rate, I say no.

4. Free yourself from material desires and unnecessary consumption.

Keeping up with the Joneses is real. I still find it confounding that people compete for status in this way. People seem to think what you possess externally is an indication of who you are internally.

I’ve seen many assholes drive expensive cars. Dickheads with nice watches. You get my point.

I treat those who obsess over driving really nice cars suspiciously. I feel like they are making up for something. Insecurity, ugly personality or lack of social skills.

Some of the richest people in the world drive very humble cars. Larry Page (founder of Google) drives a Toyota Prius, Warren Buffet drives a 2014 Cadillac, Steve Ballmer drives a Ford Fusion Hybrid. All these cars cost less than $30,000 USD, a microscopic fraction of their net worth.

Freeing yourself from desires will give you freedom and happiness. “A desire is a contract you make with yourself to be unhappy until you get what you want,” writes Naval Ravikant.

Not wanting something is as good as having it.

“Spending money to show people how much money you have is the fastest way to have less money.”

— Morgan Housel

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