This is the final post in my series on building a foundation to have the freedom to follow your dreams. I introduced the idea behind this foundation in Part I. If you missed it, you can go back and read it here. So far, I’ve covered Good Health, Supportive Relationships, Financial Fitness, and Personal Growth. Which leads us to today’s post, tying it all together.
Throughout this series, I laid out the four elements to building a foundation to freedom. Within each element, I identified five habits to help you nurture that area of your life. As you read through each element, you probably saw how each one is connected to the others and how making improvements in one area will carry across the entire foundation.
To recap, here is how the foundation for freedom breaks down.
Element 1 – Good Health
Feel a sense of wholeness by nurturing your mind, body, and spirit.
Habit 1 – Eat Real Food
Habit 2 – Move Your Body
Habit 3 – Get Enough Sleep
Habit 4 – Nurture Your Spirit
Habit 5 – Hydrate
Element 2 – Supportive Relationships
Surround yourself with people who bring out the best in you and allow you to do the same for them.
Habit 1 – Become Your Own BFF
Habit 2 – Invest in Your Significant Other
Habit 3 – Be a Giver
Habit 4 – Set Boundaries
Habit 5 – Be a Rising Tide
Element 3 – Financial Fitness
Spend less than you make so you have the freedom to save and to give.
Habit 1 – Track Your Expenses and Budget
Habit 2 – Save
Habit 3 – Ditch Debt
Habit 4 – Build Wealth
Habit 5 – Give and Enjoy
Element 4 – Personal Growth
Reach your greatest potential and fulfillment by committing to lifelong learning.
Habit 1 – Be Curious
Habit 2 – Be Humble
Habit 3 – Ask Questions and Listen
Habit 4 – Use a Filter
Habit 5 – Dream and Set Goals
If you’re looking at this list and see 20 separate steps and begin to feel overwhelmed, give yourself permission to start small. Figure out where you best fit into the flow and pick one thing to focus on. Maybe you decide to be more intentional about moving your body. Do that and the other elements will begin to come together.
As you make progress, you will find that these habits become a normal part of your lifestyle. As you focus on new habits, you’ll begin to see how that habit helps you in all other areas of the foundation for freedom. For example, when you’re curious, you’ll find better ways to improve your health, manage your budget, and work as a team with your spouse.
Let your dreams and goals be your guide. I like to use the example of when my husband, Jer, and I set the goal to pay off our mortgage. Our health improved because dining out and happy hours were no longer in the budget. Needing to find cheap activities to do together, cycling became our obsession. As a result of spending all that time together working as a team, our relationship improved. We learned and stayed motivated by reading books and listening to podcasts on the subject.
Every single one of these pieces are connected!
I’ve shared everything that has helped my husband and me create a foundation for freedom in our lives. My hope is that you will take this information and apply it to your life. Remember, all of the knowledge in the world is worthless unless you take action.
Here are three steps to start building your foundation.
1 – Set Your Intention
In a perfect world, how do you want your life to look in each of the four areas? Take a few minutes to write a few sentences or bullet points for each of the four main elements.
2 – Create Baby Steps
You can’t go from not running to completing a marathon overnight. Everything worth having in life begins with baby steps. For each of the intentions, you set in the previous step, write down three to five steps you need to take to get there.
3 – Start Building Your Foundation Today
Of the intentions and baby steps you set, which are the most important? Pick one and make a commitment to start today. Then stick with it until it becomes a habit.
Creating the foundation to live our best lives is a lifelong journey. Give yourself the grace to be okay with where you are while finding the determination to keep moving forward.
Don’t miss the other five parts of this series. You can access a deeper understanding of each step through the links below.
Part I – Building a Foundation to Freedom
Part II – Freedom through Good Health
Part III – Freedom through Supportive Relationships
Part IV – Freedom through Financial Fitness
Part V – Freedom through Personal Growth
Part VI – Tying it All Together and Taking Action
