The Version of Freedom Nobody is Selling You

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I want to talk about freedom today. Not the way the word gets thrown around in the online space, because honestly, it has been so overused and oversold that it has lost almost all of its meaning.

There was a season in my life where I had what the online business world calls the dream. I had a business that was running. I had income coming in consistently. I had the flexibility and the ability to work from wherever, whenever, and however I wanted to. I had traveled around the world. From the outside, and honestly sometimes from the inside too, it looked like exactly what I had said that I wanted to create.

But one day I was sitting with this whole notion, and I realized something that stopped me. I had lived this life, and I loved it, but I did not love what I was doing. I had built an entire life around something that wasn't actually feeding my soul, my purpose, or my passion. I had made real, consequential decisions based on a vision of freedom I had been chasing, and when I finally caught up to it, the feeling I expected wasn't there. The peace wasn't there. The fulfillment wasn't there.

You can get everything on your checklist and still feel completely empty.

That is disorienting. It is an experience nobody in the freedom lifestyle space is talking about because it doesn't make a great sales page. We see these arbitrary goals, and we start chasing them, thinking they will bring joy and contentment. But if you are building away from something you are afraid of instead of towards something you genuinely want, the arrival is going to feel hollow. A cage made of gold is still a cage. When your business depends on you for everything, when your worth is tangled up in your productivity, even inside the freedom version of your life, you haven't actually arrived anywhere. You just moved the hustle to a prettier location.

Here is how we start building toward a life that actually feels like freedom.

1. Define Freedom For Yourself: Stop adopting someone else's definition of what freedom is supposed to look like. You have to do the inner work to define what freedom means and feels like for you in this current season. What are the specific things your life needs to contain for you to feel like you are actually free inside of it?

2. Filter Every Decision: I narrowed my life down to five things: faith, family, fitness, fulfillment, and freedom. Before I say yes to anything, before I create anything new, or take on any new commitment, I ask if it serves those five things. I ask myself what the cost is. Simplify every single decision by rooting it in what you actually value instead of what you are supposed to want.

3. Surrender The Plan: Real freedom started for me when I stopped building toward a life that looked good and started building toward a life of surrender. Surrender doesn't mean passive. It means aligned. It means stopping the white-knuckling of the plan and starting to trust the process that isn't yours to control.

Scripture for the Soul

"A man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps." — Proverbs 16:9

I had been so busy planning my course that I forgot to even check in and ask God where we were actually going. Sometimes the freedom you are chasing is actually the thing keeping you in bondage, and true freedom comes when we align our steps with His purpose.

Points to Ponder

• Are you building toward something you genuinely want, or running away from something you are afraid of?
• What is one area of your life where you are maintaining a version of success you have already outgrown?
• If you stripped away everyone else's expectations, what does true freedom look like for you right now?

The Confident Woman Podcast

E367: The Truth About Freedom (And Why It Might Feel Empty)

If you've ever reached the top of the mountain only to realize you climbed the wrong one, this episode is for you.

Inside this episode, you’ll hear:

• Why reaching your goals doesn't always bring the fulfillment you expected.
• How to recognize when the freedom you're chasing is actually keeping you stuck.
• The five foundational pillars for building a sustainable and aligned life.

​Listen to the full episode here​

So, tell me.

When you say you want freedom, what does it actually mean to you? Reply to this email and let me know.

XO,

P.S. If your business has been feeling heavier than it should, and you honestly can't remember the last time it felt simple — start here. I built a free 3-Day Business Declutter Challenge. One email a day. One 15-minute action. No logins, no overwhelm. Grab it here for free​

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