4 Ways to Practice Freedom

No matter where you live, you have freedom. This is defined as, “the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.”  

That may not be true in every situation in your life, but you are free to choose what you do, what you think and how you spend your time. It’s easy to blame outside forces, like “I have to go to work.” You actually do not have to do that – you choose to go to work.

Here are 4 ways you can intentionally practice your freedom:

1. You are free to choose YOUR WORDS – you decide what you say to yourself and others. Are your words a reflection of who you are and the impact you intend to create on yourself and those around you?
    
2. You are free to choose YOUR ATTITUDE – is your glass half full or half empty? You decide your perspective. If the one you are using isn’t working, try a new one!
    
3. You are free to choose YOUR ACTIONS – seemingly insignificant choices turn into small actions. The small actions you do regularly become your habits. Your habits shape your character and create your life. You make choices every day about what you will and will not do. Here are some matched pairs for contemplation: let go or control others; walk or drive; cash or credit; prepare or procrastinate; be fit or be fat; progress or perfection; talk or listen…what actions are you choosing? 
   
4. You are free to choose YOUR BELIEFS – do you realize that what you believe drives how you behave? In Atomic Habits, James Clear does an excellent job explaining how your identity (the sum of your beliefs) is essential to lasting change. You get to decide what you believe. If you are behaving in ways that aren’t working for you, examine what belief is causing that behavior. Then decide whether you want to keep the belief or change it. This is a powerful exercise that many of our coaching clients do to radically improve their leadership, performance and productivity!   

You have more control over your choices than you may be practicing. Celebrate this freedom by being intentional and choosing the beliefs, words, attitudes and actions that create your future. Each of these choices contributes to who you become and where you are going.

Watch this rare TED clip from 1972. Legendary psychiatrist and Holocaust-survivor Viktor Frankl delivers a powerful message about the human search for meaning — and the most important gift we can give others.

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

― Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning