It's a rich man's world...or is it?

So many of my friends and clients are trapped in a work-life situation which they hate. It is heartbreaking to see how the life they say they want to live, seems to stay just outside of their reach. Mostly because of choices they make today or have made in the past.

I call it staying in the golden shackles, not being able to answer the "what-is-really-enough" question, just in case the smaller car and house are not good enough for my neighbours or the peer group I find myself in - so I buy something more to make me feel better.

And so we get ourselves into a cycle of showing on the outside that we are OK, trying desperately to fill the void inside. It takes true courage to be OK with me, without the identity of a corporate title or access to a certain amount of money or lifestyle.

 

Trying to answer and convince your family that what you actually want is a simpler life, spending your time on things that fulfill your purpose, may cause huge disruptions. Especially if it is a great departure from what you and your partner have always been planning together (that house by the sea, the dream holiday...) And so it continues. We always find a reason not to make the decisions which will set us free to follow our true life's purpose - the children being the most emotive one. If you only had more time to spend with them in your quest to make a better future for them, the process would have made some sense?

I have been actively pursuing happiness over the last 3 years, trying to re-engineer my previously whirlwind corporate life into something more sustainable, something which feeds my soul.

Some of the reasons why this is possible was because of very difficult choices I made more than a decade ago:

1. To be debt free as soon as possible
2. To keep the car and the house as small as possible - if I am traveling the world most of the time, this shouldn't be an issue!
3. To never buy just for the sake of buying - it either needs to replace something that is broken or make an existing thing way better (this is mostly a space issue...)
4. Surrounding myself with friend who have the same values and are not impressed by the latest fashions and acquisitions, but rather by who I am

It is never too late to change! It is all about planting the tree today to be able to live from the fruit tomorrow, rather that cutting the tree to survive (thanks for the beautiful analogy Marius!). It has been very scary but so very fulfilling, to have all these choices on what you want to do with your life; how you want to spend your time;  and who you want to spend it with!

All I can say is be careful what you wish for, it invariably will come true on you :) The universe is constantly conspiring to support us to live our true purpose. So today I am doing what I love, earning what I need and on top of it all...