My Ultimate Freedom Journey – Part 1

2-years ago an unexpected series of events would alter the course of my life… I lost my wife, my kids, my home and most of my belongings… I lost my mom… who was my biggest supporter… she would slip away in my arms.

Two hours later, I received an urgent call from my vet back in California instructing that if I ever wanted to see my dog alive again, I needed to hurry back to San Diego.

My dog passed away in my arms just 2-days later from the same health condition that took my mom.

These series of events both stole away a flame that had burned my whole life, while also igniting something new inside of me. They would ground me… yet they would grant me wings.

I had wanted so many things in life… freedom was always calling me. I wanted to travel. I wanted to have experiences.

But, my mom was sick for years… I needed to stick around to care for her. I had obligations to a wife who I felt didn’t love me… I had a pet who I loved but, I couldn’t really travel the world the way I had dreamed of… my life, my relationships, my belongings and all my many obligations prevented me from doing the things that I yearned for.

When I lost everything… I also gained freedom. This turning point would set me on a mission… and that mission would help me define to myself what freedom really is and why it’s always been so important to me.

But, today I am reflecting on my mission and why it matters.

I have always identified myself as a Freedom Seeker. That seemed to be my mission most of my life. Freedom was the thing that propelled my actions in life. I had always been on a path to freedom.

After losing everything, I decided I should do something more with my life… to start over fresh and see what a life filled with freedom could look like. I was excited at the possibilities.

When I landed in Bali that feeling had never been stronger. I knew my life was about to begin.

I decided to accept my situation for all it was… to surrender my past to the universe… embrace who I am right now and to start fresh with a new foundation, far away from home. Bali would become for me my new home and a special place where I would begin the next phase of my life’s journey.

I became very mindful of the experiences I had every day and considered how these experiences would often give me a feeling of freedom. I began to identify that feeling and could tell the difference between how freedom differed from say, general happiness… or joy.

I began to understand how to achieve more of that feeling, and to understand why it mattered so much to me.

I realized that freedom and happiness are not the same things, even though they do resemble one another.

I realized that financial freedom was not freedom at all… but, merely a doorway to freedom and acquiring enough money was the key to that door.

I realized that I had forgotten why I ever started pursuing financial freedom in the first place.

I realized that I wanted to see what kinds of freedom money could buy but I didn’t want that to be my crutch. More importantly, I wanted to share the lessons of freedom with others who may be working so hard to achieve what I was already experiencing.

So, I asked 1000’s of people…

“What drives you? What gets you out of bed in the morning? You don’t have to work so hard. You could be lazy like so many others in life and just let the time tick away… but, you seem so driven. You seem to care about something greater than yourself. What is it? What is it that makes you do what you do every day? And, to keep trying? WHY are you here doing this?”

Though each person gave varying answers, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that virtually every person gave the same root answer. And, that answer was: Freedom.

From the freedom to travel and live a more fun-filled life… to giving back to the world in ways that only financial freedom would allow… to opening doors for themselves and others… perhaps to take care of a loved one in need or to help their kids or their parents or a friend or family member have a better life… But, every answer described freedom.

I realized that one form of freedom is tied to money and the means to afford expensive things… like buying a plane ticket to anywhere or living in any home you desire or driving any car you desire.

But, another form of freedom could be described as a feeling. And, that feeling is amazing. I recognized that the freedom feeling can be accomplished through many simple things in life. Financial freedom is amazing. But, other things would trigger the sense of freedom, too and they’re often times much easier to achieve than making a million dollars, for example.

Things like exploring a new place or cruising through the countryside on a motorcycle, while taking in the fresh morning air.

Or, your toes in the cool sand while strolling along a white sand beach…

Or, perhaps holding hands with an amazing person and feeling that they love you fully or feeling love yourself.

Or, realizing in the moment that you have nowhere else to be, no one or nothing saying, “hurry forward” and nothing saying, ” come back!”

Or, realizing that in the moment, the past doesn’t matter and the future is irrelevant. Simply existing in the moment and appreciating that moment for being special and amazing… this could give such an amazing feeling of freedom.

Yes, there were so many things that would spark that feeling of freedom… and many of those things were simply ignited by making a choice to step outside of my comfort zone. And, many times simply by making a choice to go outside today instead of staying cooped up inside would lead to more of these freedom filled experiences because I was always on a mission to discover more.

I realized that anyone could achieve these bite-sized chunks of freedom at any time by merely choosing to do something invigorating, stimulating, exciting, inspiring or new.

This was all interesting but, it was what I discovered next that really changed everything.

I realized that helping others achieve freedom even greater amplified my own sense of personal freedom beyond what money or any simple day-to-day, freedom-filled experiences could provide me.

I began thinking more about how I could use my energy to exponentially increase my own sense of freedom by giving freedom to more and more people.

My day-to-day mission was to help ordinary people achieve financial freedom. And the program was having amazing results.

Soon I realized there was only so much I could do myself. I needed help.

So, I asked for it. I created a program called Mentor Me which was basically a 1-on-1 mentoring and business coaching program for my many students who wanted to fast-track their success.

What I needed were some mentors to help out. What I really wanted to do was empower others to empower others to empower others!

And, that’s effectively I think what happened next…

As soon as one of my students began consistently earning $1000/day or more, I would interview or chat with them. I discovered that some of those people shared my own vision and wanted to give back and help others, too!
By empowering these amazing people, and opening up their eyes to a greater mission, something very special was happening. We were helping so many more people achieve financial freedom together than I ever could have done alone!

I helped them become financially free… and, using my own system, sharing in my own belief system, and extending my vision… these amazing mentors were a force to be reckoned with.

At one point all 10 of the top 10 super affiliates on the largest affiliate online network in the world were our students. It was quite astonishing.

And, the stories that were generated from our students helped me realize that what we were doing mattered… what we were doing was changing lives. Not just for individuals but for their families and the people around them in their communities and within many organizations.

I think I didn’t realize it at the time but, I was creating a small movement. And, now more than ever, I believe this movement has the power to carry on without me. It gives me hope that I could create a legacy. And, to me that matters. I know I won’t be around forever so I want my time here to have mattered.

This is mostly what I care about today… at this specific point along my journey.

When I arrived in Bali two years ago, my mission started. I began to reflect deeply on what Freedom meant to me. I thought about so many levels of Freedom in my fundamental everyday life. I began thinking deeply about more abstract ways we experience freedom… setting out to experience Freedom on every level… deeply, so as to better understand this force that has been driving me (and so many others) all our lives.

This new beginning would bring me 10,000 miles from home and plant me in an amazing new place called Bali, Indonesia where I sit now as I write this…

It would lead me to help countless students to achieve their own financial freedom and set them on their own path…

And, it would unite many of us on a shared mission to change the lives of even more hungry Ultimate Freedom warriors who are just getting started.

My journey has just begun and I’m so excited to be where I am today, so grateful and blessed to be in a position to help others… because its a reminder that what I’m doing matters.

Here’s to life and experiencing it fully and to helping others do it beside you! Anything you can do yourself, you can inspire others to do as well… and you can only matter as much as you give back to others. So do amazing things in this life! But, be sure not to forget to use your stories to inspire and use your knowledge to fuel positive change in others.

You can make a difference even if you don’t realize it yet.