Am I Free? Checklist

From time to time, we need to reflect on our lives to see where we are and where we are headed, just as the navigators of a sea-faring vessel does. Below is a checklist I made to help you reflect on the things commonly held important by most people.

Answer honestly each item with either a "yes" or a "no", and write down how you came up with your answer. Take some time and reflect on each item carefully. Search inside yourself. Discussing this with your loved ones and letting them answer their own checklists also will be very helpful. Don't limit yourself to your present situation. Think in terms of what you really want in life with no compromises.

1. I can buy all the important things that I need be it for personal, educational, professional, social, spiritual, or other purposes.
2. I can buy my dream house anytime.
3. I can buy my dream car anytime.
4. I can take a vacation anytime I want to, spending money without concern for my budget.
5. I can commit myself to charitable or social undertakings anytime and anywhere in the world, no matter the financial cost.
6. I can send my children to their college of choice anywhere in the world, complete with lodging and living expenses.
7. I can stop working immediately and attend to our kids full time without decreasing our monthly income.
8. My family can eat healthily even if it costs us more money to do so.
9. I am able to say no when my boss orders me to work overtime.
10. I am able to pursue my life mission or my childhood dreams full time.
11. I am always present during all of the important events in my life and in the lives of my loved ones.
12. I am able to retire comfortably at any age I want without decreasing my monthly income or seeking financial help from my family or children.

If you answered "yes" to almost all of the questions, hats off to you! You are one of the minority group who has the freedom to seek and achieve the important things in life.

But for most people, you may have realized a lot of things during this exercise. That maybe we are not free at all, or not as much as we would like to believe. It's one thing to be comfortable to be living below your means, it's a different world to increase your means so you would have choices. To find out more on how we can address this, check out my two articles "What is Real Freedom?" and "How can we achieve true freedom?".

Some people may feel out of place. You may not have taken the time before to evaluate your life and understand what really is important to you or to the people who matters to you. Or maybe you have not set out a plan on what you want to achieve with your life. I recommend that you make a life plan of your own to discover and to strive for what matters most.

Did this checklist help you realize the big picture of your situation? Share this with your friends. Also, don't forget to subscribe to my feeds.