None But Ourselves Can Free Our Minds

In one of his best pieces of work, Redemption Song, Bob Marley famously sings the words, "Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery. None but ourselves can free our minds."

Society today is full of traps. This isn't a new concept and frankly, it's been around since the beginning of time. There have always been "societal norms" that people are supposed to follow. Certain ways we are supposed to act, think, and things we are supposed to do. I call these suffocating chains on the body and mind. They are nothing but limiting factors and have the power to prevent us from ever reaching our full potential. Now, before we go any further let me make some things clear. I believe in law and I believe in order. I'm not by any means saying that laws are bad and people should be running freely in the streets doing whatever they please. What I am saying is that we as a society have bought into a whole lot of nonsense for far too long.

The outside world is trying to tell you how to act and how to think every single day. For better or worse it's happening and you might not even be aware of it. You might simply fall in line and accept it all for what it is. There's a lot of miserable people out there doing things they hate because they think they're supposed to. Society's "path to success" goes something like this: go to school, get a nice 9-5 job, go back to school, get a promotion, and so on and so forth until you retire and ride off into the sunset around the age of 65. By societal standards, this is the "smart thing to do". Well, I'm calling BS and I'll explain why. This is nothing more than hopping on a hamster wheel. Running the race. This is the equivalent of a participation trophy. Do you want to merely participate in this life or do you want to win? Winning, remember, is not being #1 all of the time. It's doing things that move the needle to where you want to go to achieve your hopes and dreams.

By my calculations, falling in line and following this "path to success" only involves using about 40% of your brain, give or take. But what about doing what you want to do? Now, that requires using 100% of your brain and possibly even more. Why? Because you have to figure things out on your own. There's no study guide for achieving your goals, no professor to lecture you on the material, and no boss to pat you on the back and tell you you're doing a great job. There's none of that. It's you, your ideas and dreams, and a mind that needs to figure out how to make it happen. Sure, it might not pay as well as the "normal way". But what you lose in monetary value you gain in a sense of fulfillment. And that's all we all want in life right? To feel fulfilled and satisfied with the life we're living every single day?

Why would I wait until I'm 65 and retired to start enjoying life? Why not start right now? Why not take a leap and jump into what you love and go at that at 1,000 miles an hour? Fail or succeed at least you're satisfied. At least you're working towards something you love.

Most people are scared to do this and I don't blame them. It is scary. Leaving a nice salary and a comfy office chair isn't easy. But I've talked to plenty of people on podcasts and in other places that have done it. And, you know what, they love it. They wouldn't go back even if you paid them 3x what they're making now. You know why? Because every single day they work towards something they love and they feel fulfilled as a result. They have a sense of purpose and are working towards that purpose every single day.

If you like what you do in your 9-5, great! I'm not trying to rip on you and take that away from you. What I am trying to say is that you should be happy with what you do. Take big risks if you need to but always enjoy and love what you're doing. You may not enjoy every little part of the process but overall you'll enjoy working towards a goal and what you were born to do. So many people go through life without ever finding out who they truly are. Discover whatever that may be for you, don't waste another second, and GO FOR IT.

After all, Bob was right. Only you can free yourself and live a purposeful life chasing and doing what you love.

I challenge you today to start to figure out what you truly love. This probably won't come to you right away and it will also most likely evolve over time. But once you find out what it is I want you to go after it with whatever you have and take whatever risks necessary to make it happen.

Get After It.