Financial freedom is often considered to be having both the time and money to live the life you want to live, rather than having to exist on what life gives you, you go out and create the life you want to live – essentially the term “financial freedom” could be summed up with the phrase “living life on your own terms”.

No matter what freedom means to you, personally, the common factor seems to be that of having a decent amount of money – as money is the vital fuel that transports us from where we are to where we want to be and facilitates the experiences, and living conditions we desire.

The challenge, is that money is very similar to air in that it’s very hard to live without it – yet often, we get caught up in a cycle of wanting more, more, more – never being satisfied with what we have.

Now, this is in the opposite direction of ‘freedom’ because if we feel an insatiable appetite that we can never satisfy, many people would consider that to be a living hell – as what we all want in life is to feel fulfilled. Having more, doesn’t necessarily lead to us feeling fulfilled.

As discussed above, we do require money to live, yet we seem to be caught in a cultural cycle or striving for more at the cost of our feeling of contentment and happiness… as what we want is is always kept just out of reach, like the carrot being dangled in front of a frustrated donkey… he keeps moving forward, but is a prisoner to his desire for the carrot being dangled in front of him.

Therefore, rather than keep striving for more – it might pay to look at the destination you actually want to get to, as in where is it that would truly make you happy, and then work out the most efficient way to fuel the journey required to get you to where you want to be!

There are many strategies when it comes to creating wealth, yet the most fundamental thing required to enable financial freedom is a shift in your own psychology.

Attitude is everything, as the mind is an incredibly powerful tool that wealthy people have learned to condition in order to attract the levels of wealth they are able to create.

It’s now scientifically proven that the thoughts we think become the things we experience; for instance, if we are focused on debt the whole time we have a tendency to attract more of it, or just feel down about our life.

This could be described as someone with their head down, looking at their feet, in the place they are in – feeling blue – rather than looking up to where it is they actually want to be, and focusing more on walking the path that leads toward it. Indeed, in life, it’s often not where you are today that counts – it’s where you’re heading. Yet, so many people feel so down on themselves due to being in debt they are rarely able to lift their head and focus on the place they actually want to be.

This article addresses the fact a lot of people are enduring financially tough times, and encourages you to shift your focus from thinking about debt to creating a more prosperous future for yourself and your family.

We’re going to look at a number of steps you can take to put you on the path toward financial freedom. The first and most basic step, is like the bottom layer of a pyramid, in that without this fundamental layer you’ll never have the firm foundation required to build financial freedom.

1. STOP BURYING YOUR HEAD IN THE SAND

The challenge with debt is that it can be a vicious cycle that quickly spirals out of control, and rather than bury your head in the sand like most people, you’ll want to be proactive and take the “bull by the horns”, so to speak. Being in debt is often described as a slippery slope due to the interest and fees that accrue; meaning the situation can quickly snowball.

It’s understandable that debt can affect your mental health and this guide offers some solid insight in terms of this.

2. UNDERSTAND WHERE THE STRESS IS COMING FROM

For most people, having debt in itself, isn’t particularly stressful – it’s the debt collection activities that happen when people fall behind and the constant worry about what could happen next — it’s the phone calls… the threat of a ‘home visit’… the threat of court action, and even the prospect of bailiffs coming to remove personal items from your home.

Being pursued for debt can be extremely stressful; often times when people are in serious debt they are pursued by multiple creditors with multiple streams of debt collection activity.

Due to this, many people choose to stick their head back in their shell, like a turtle, avoiding interaction with their creditors. However, when it comes to debt, avoidance really isn’t the best strategy – as whilst it can provide temporary relief it isn’t a long-term solution and actually makes things much worse.

3. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GOOD DEBT AND BAD DEBT

There’s a large difference between good debt and bad debt. For example, the prospect of consolidating your debt into one larger loan can be a good thing, as it allows you to pay off smaller fragments of debt and can offer immediate relief from multiple creditors banging at the door…

Indeed, there are sites like this site that could offer finance to ensure you don’t mess up your financial future and get out of a pickle… indeed, if you are thinking about debt consolidation, this can be a good step in the right direction, as it can actually help repair your credit rating; in the sense that you are no longer making several missed payments each month.

In summary, the first step to financial freedom is not particularly glamorous or fun – it’s about facing things as they are, and taking them on – laying firm foundations on which to build a stable future, and then you can be free to shift your focus toward creating a life of financial freedom rather than financial fear.