Why You Need To Start Buying Freedom, Not Things

Hey there, real quick, before we jump into the episode, listen, if your earnings treadmill hasn't set you free yet, running faster won't either. Listen, hustle without principles just going to burn you out. So here's what I want for you. I want you to join me for my money machine experience Live. It is three free trainings. Deep dive into how to escape the treadmill and build a money machine that actually works for you. All right, grab your spot here by going to moneymachinelive.com and I'll see you in the free training. Stop buying stuff. Instead of buying stuff, it's time to buy your freedom. Look, we can buy a bunch of stuff. Hell, we're getting paraded and inundated with advertisements, whether it's on TikTok, Instagram, the TV, the, the radio, all of it. To buy stuff, we need to stop. Because what we want is not the stuff we want, the freedom. So let's jump in to this episode of the Affluent Entrepreneur show. Let's move.

Stop buying stuff. That's just the name of the game. Here's the deal. We live in a society. I'm going to jump right in here. We live in a spending society, a spending culture. We live in an environment where there's this constant comparison with. We can pick up our phones at any given time and see someone else's facade of a perfect life. We live under an umbrella of relentless marketing. We get a chance to compare our lifestyle to what we see, other lifestyles, and we're on some cultural spending plan. And I don't ever really want to tell anyone not to spend. What I do want to do is make sure that if you're going to spend that, you're doing it in a place that brings you long term sustainable joy, visceral joy, that it isn't momentary pleasures that just are fleeting and actually not of your own doing. Okay? It's not an issue to do it unless by doing so you find yourself living a life.

That is designed by someone else's hands and not yours. See, the unintentional consequences of doing this is that because of us being relentlessly marketed to. And we see these images and we see this, the unintended consequence of that is that we connect happiness to these external things, to having the nice car, to having the label clothes, to having the nice home. And in the process of trying to achieve that happiness by material things, we find ourselves in a situation where we're in debt. We find ourselves in a situation where we're stressed. We find ourselves in A situation where we're living in a place or doing the things that we don't really want to do because heck, they just don't make us happy and we don't know why. We're on what's termed as the hedonic treadmill where you get this momentary juice of happiness and excitement and all that, and then it just goes away and you settle back into your patterns and you need another fix. And so if we're really trying to build to financial freedom, if we're really trying to live an affluent life, we need to do it through a different set of eyes, we need to do it through a different set of principles and we need to do it intentionally by our own hands. I'm not telling you not to spend. I'm not telling you not to buy stuff. Heck, I buy plenty of stuff. But I'm intentional about, okay? Truth be told, sometimes I'm unintentional. Shame on me. But I'm human, okay? So here's the thing. What I want to do is I want us to start to understand what does it take? Because what I want for you is to live a get to life, a life of choice versus a have to life, a life of demands, okay? Because when you live a get to life, you live a life on your own terms. When you live a get to life, you have choices, you have alternatives, you get a chance to do that. And it's why I say to live an affluent life, we really. To be affluent. There's, there's four elements to affluence, okay? And, and there's. These four elements are. Only one of them has to do with money. A lot of people will say, oh, it's money. No, it's not. Actually the first is that it's a meaningful life, okay? That, that we actually enjoy what we do. That, that it brings us joy from the inside out, okay? So we want to have that meaningful life. The second aspect of affluence, that, the way I look at it, the second aspect of affluence is that it's an impactful life. And what I mean by this is that when we talk about living our lives, that the people around us are better because of it. That we're having a positive impact on their souls, on their lives in doing that, okay? And then the, the third, the third aspect of, of this is that it is a fruitful life. Now this is the only one that has anything to do with money is that it is a fruitful life. And, and we want to have that because when we have fruits of our labor. When we have that financial freedom, we have the ability to buy back the moments of our life, to buy our freedom. That's the ultimate purchase, is our freedom to be able to buy that back. And then ultimately the last piece of living that affluent life is that it is a peaceful life, that we are at peace with what we do and how we do it. Because we're in alignment with our values. We're congruent with our desires and our vision for life. That's what affluence is. That's what comes out of living intentionally and the ultimate purchase of our freedom. Because here's what I know. If we start to look at a have to life, if we start to look at the things that you're doing, then you're working nonstop and you might be experiencing some of this. I went through this when I was working at the accounting firm. I was working late hours, 10, 11 o' clock at night, six days a week, not getting paid a lot. I wasn't living my life. I quit. I mean, ended up quitting. But you're working non stop. It feels like you're on a treadmill. You're just working to keep the lights on. Okay, that's a get to life. Your. Your choices feel limited. That's a get to life where. Where you sit back and say, well, I'm stuck in this job, I'm stuck in this routine and, and I don't love it, but this is my lot in life. I'm settling. Okay, that's a get to life. I mean, a have to life. Then there's constant stress. Constant stress. Because one, there's this nagging worry about money. Two, there's this friction because you feel like you're not in alignment. That's a have to life. Living day to day with no dreams, with no vision, with no nothing. That's pointing for. That's a have to life. Feeling like your dreams are on hold and one day, someday I'll get there, but you're not making any progress. That's a have to. But imagine for a moment that you get a chance to wake up. Imagine for a moment you get a chance to wake up each and every morning feeling excited for the day ahead. That you're. That you're not rushing off to a job with dread, but instead you're skipping. You're not even working. All you're sitting back and saying, I can choose to do what I want to do with this day. And if it's a spontaneous trip, it's a spontaneous Trip. But why not? That's the essence of a get to life. The get to life is choosing your own path. You're not stuck in a job, you're not stuck in a rut. Now, maybe there's temporary times in your life where you have to deal with that, but a get to life has your money working for you harder for you than you did for it. You put it to work for you. You have this excited feeling each and every day. Yeah, there's going to be days that aren't going to be good days. But the fact is that by and large, I look at my life with all the ups and downs and everything, I love it. I feel blessed.

That's a get to life. You see opportunities, you see possibilities.

That's a get to life.

You have the freedom choice, the freedom to change, to sit back and say, you know what? I think I'm done here, I'm going to move somewhere else. We're going to decide to go this or we're going to decide to pack up and get an RV and grow across country and enjoy for a month or we're going to take a sabbatical. I've got a dear, dear friend, David Bach took a sabbatical for a year in Florence, Italy. It's now three and a half years in. I think he's still there. Okay. The freedom to change, the freedom of choice. That's what it is. The ultimate purchase is your freedom and not stuff. How do you make this transition? How do you move from, from have to, to get to? How do you tackle that? How do you do this? Well, the first thing is this. You gotta follow a process. The process that I'm gonna tell you to follow is the one that I talk about in building your money machine, my book and the wealth priority ladder. But let's talk about some specifics about it. Okay? Couple things. I want you to tackle your debt. I want you to start chipping away at the burden of that debt. Because when you, when you free up more money, you free up more time when you get rid of the debt. And if you need help getting rid of the debt, what you need to do is I want you to go to melabraham.com nodebt grab the debt breakthrough calculator, set yourself on a debt payment plan, get it dialed in, get it cleaned up, take that burden off your shoulders. Second thing, I want you to save smarter. I want you to start building and follow the wealth priority ladder where you're building liquidity so you have safety and you have peace. Of mind. And having that in place, put it in a high yield savings account so you don't have to worry about emergencies and you can just kind of keep going. Nothing's going to put you in the ditch, Nothing's going to destroy you. Number three, I want you to change your mindset. I want you to ask yourself when you're making a buying decision, is this stuff or is this something that moves me closer to joy? Long term joy, not momentary joy. Is this driven by my own desires and values or is it driven by some marketing speak? And then see the challenges that are coming into your life as actual stepping stones and springboards to a whole new life. The next thing I want you to do is invest in yourself. Whether that's just getting a book like mine, which you should, and reading it, listening to shows like this, getting training, going through courses, going back to school, skilling up, investing in a mentor or a coach, learn the new skills, brush up on the old ones. Doors will open, opportunities will present themselves. Your ability to have that freedom to do that becomes important. And then the last thing I want you to do is to rethink your lifestyle. What really matters? What matters to you? What does it look like for you? Is it something that's been designed by the marketing, by the commercials, by social media, by the media? Or is it designed by the by? You see, I believe that we were all put here to live our unique life, our unique way. To take our unique gifts, nurture them, develop them, and give it back to the world in a unique way. Well, if it's unique, that means it can't be based on someone. It has to come from within us. And when you start to transition in this way, you start to see that you move from feeling trapped to feeling free from living a life that is have to to get to to living a life that is based on need and demands to a life that's based on choice. Your ultimate purchase. It's your freedom. Focus on that and not the stuff. I hope that this helps. Hope that this changes your perspective, maybe gives you inkling of what you might want to look at different. Because I know that in the process you will find the three critical outcomes of affluence. The first is a richer lifestyle. Okay, that's how you experience life. It's not the money in the bank account, it's truly how you experience life. The feelings and the experiences. The second is that it's a deeper impact that you get a chance to impact those that you serve. But more importantly, you impact the people to the right and left, you, the ones that you love, the ones that you share life. And the third impact.

Person in the mirror, who are you becoming on this journey? And the third critical outcome is complete freedom. Yes, I talk about financial freedom, but that is one of the freedoms. It is the most rudimentary freedom you could ask for. There's two other freedoms that I think you want. And the first is time free, the ability to dictate what you do with your time. And that is the freedom because I truly believe that you, you measure your wealth in time and not dollars. And when you do that now all of a sudden all the moments matter because it is the moments that are most valuable.

And then the third freedom is mine to have the peace of mind that you lived life on your terms, by your design, in your way, and you expressed it fully all the days of your life that are the three outcomes. That's what. So I hope that this helps. I hope that this gives you a pathway and maybe maybe challenges some current thinking to give you an opportunity to take hold of your life and to look at what we're going to do. Remember I said I'm not telling you not to spend, I'm not telling you not to buy. I just want to make sure that you do it intentionally. And that moves you closer and closer to a get to life, a life of choice and a life by your own design. I hope that this helps and I hope that you're on your path. And like I said, I want to help you every step of the way. I'm on a crusade. I want to like the path to financial freedom because with financial freedom, you have the freedom of choice. You have the freedom to have a get to life. All right? And I want to do it for a million families. And I want you on that journey with me, all right? Until I get a chance to see another episode or on the road as I'm speaking or doing these things, always, always strive.

Thank you for listening to the Affluent Entrepreneur show with me, your host, Mel Abraham. If you want to achieve financial liberation to create an affluent lifestyle, join me in the Affluent Entrepreneur Facebook group now by going to melabraham.com group and I'll see you there.

And that's it for this episode of Building youg Money Machine where we help you learn how to master your money, eliminate financial stress and live a life of choice. If you found this valuable or helpful to you, here's what I'd love for you to do. If you do me a favor, go to Apple. Apple podcast or wherever you're listening to this podcast and rate and review the show. It helps us tremendously to keep us at the top of the list so we can continue to get this information and this message out to people. Because I truly believe that financial freedom is your birthright, and I want to help each and every one of you claim it. Thanks so much.