What is freedom? Freedom can mean so many different things for so many different people and what it ultimately comes down to is our unique mindset around the concept of freedom. The dictionary describes freedom as “the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants.”. From the perspective of someone living in a culture that oppresses this basic human right to “act, speak, or think as one wants”. The lack of freedom is quite clear. From this perspective, one might look at a culture that is not oppressed as having access to freedom. However, it is quite common to be living with the freedom to “act, speak, or think as one wants” but still feeling completely trapped, feeling this same lack of freedom. Although, gaining perspective on your sense of freedom in comparison to the oppression of others, may give you more gratitude for what you have, it does not necessarily shift you towards the experience of feeling a sense of freedom for yourself. So, the question is, how can we experience more freedom in our life no matter our circumstances? In my experience, the answer lies in our ability to make a few essential mindset shifts.

The “Ego” Shift

I once had a conversation with man of Indian background at a petrol station on the subject of freedom. He shared with me his view on how even though we live such a free country. We lack the true meaning of freedom because we are so trapped in our individuality. In our own mind. In our own world. In his country he said “we are connected, our culture is connected to our community and also connected to a higher power, to something greater than just ourselves”. He was essentially speaking to a subject I had been fascinated by for quite some time. A mindset shift that triggered my first awakening in this lifetime, on the subject of “the ego”, which brings us to the first essential shift you can make to experience more freedom in your life. The Ego Shift!

What is “ego”? Your ego in this context is essentially the part of yourself that makes up your identity. It is made up of the belief systems you have about who you are as an individual. The part of yourself that has been conditioned to act, speak, or think a certain way. Which brings us back to our dictionary definition of freedom. You may believe you are acting, speaking and thinking freely but what I present to you now is the idea that perhaps you are not. This idea presented by Eckhart Tolle had a profound impact on my life. It was essentially the first teaching that triggered an internal sense of freedom for me. Eckhart Tolle states, “We will transcend thought through the awareness of thought and the ability to tap into the new consciousness within when we realise, the voice in my head is not who I am because I am the awareness of that voice”. This sense of awareness is the first step towards true freedom because when we live from this space, when we make choices from this space, we take responsibility for our own lives! Rather than living through the reaction of the ego, we can begin the live through our “right to act, speak, or think as one wants”. We are no longer a prisoner of our own mind. A prisoner of our own conditioning. We become the observer of our lives and realise the only person holding us captive is ourselves.

The “Expectation” Shift

Expectations are drilled into us from the moment we can understand the words “good” and “bad”. We are taught that the word good refers to something we “should” do and the word bad refers to something we “shouldn’t” do. This is a belief system which sticks with us throughout our life continually guiding us as towards what we should and shouldn’t do. The only problem with this belief system is, everyone’s perception about what is good and what is bad is in fact different! So, we often find ourselves somewhat confused about the “right” path to follow which naturally leads us down the path of the sheep, following the status quo and attempting to live up to the expectations of the majority.

The mindset shift I encourage you to consider here is, rather than looking through the lens of what you should and shouldn’t do. Can you begin to ask yourself instead, “What choice do I want to make this moment and does this choice align with who I desire to become?“. I have made this mindset shift secondary to the ego shift intentionally because one thing you may notice when you do begin the journey towards living from the perspective of the observer within, is that yet another level of ego may creep in, this one a little more self-inflicted. You may begin to observe yourself more deeply, to observe the things you have done, said and thought in the past and begin to place higher expectations on yourself. You may begin to shift things in your life that you feel are “good” or for the greater good and then you may begin to observe what others are doing and place higher expectations on them to live up to your new sense of what is “right”. Just remember, if expectations are at play, it is likely the ego is not far away.

It can be challenging to go through this shift! It is when we find ourselves unable to live up to our own expectations and the expectations of others that we struggle. The fear of challenging the norm, challenging our beliefs and challenging what feels comfortable can be crippling but the freedom which follows is priceless. The ability to release what you think you “should” do and let go of what others think about you is transformational. The only constant in life is change and when we learn to lean into change, a sense of freedom becomes much more attainable. To live a life free from expectation is to live in alignment with our truth in each moment. To allow our inner compass, our intuition to shine a light on the way forward.

The “Limitation” Shift

What if I told you, you could have, be, do whatever you desired in life. Would you believe me? What if I told you, the only thing holding you back, is your perspective. Would you be open to changing it? The only thing getting between you and what you truly desire are the limiting beliefs you hold about yourself and the world you live in. For generations people just like you have been pushing the limits beyond what is possible and the only difference between you and them, is they believe it is possible, where you do not. They act on their limitless beliefs, where you do not. They keep believing and keep trying even when they fail, where you do not. This is the only difference! Believe! Act! Try! Fail & Try Again! Although, it may sound simple. It is often a deeply challenging shift to move through. For believing something is truly possible and continuing to believe it is possible requires us to go through a process of understanding, unblocking and releasing limiting beliefs formed through our conditioning. Beliefs which are often unconscious and take a great deal of conscious awareness to uncover. As we allow ourselves the space and time to move through this process consciously, we give ourselves the opportunity to shift from limitation to liberation and with each moment of liberation, we build the capacity to have, be and do more than we could ever imagine. This is the limitation shift.

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