Five Cents Ten Cents

Flickr image "River flow" by Britanglishman

Following my post about “Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience“, I begin to see how important our own perceptions play in determining if we are happy or not under all circumstances.

One of the benefits of trading in stocks and shares is that it forces you to confront your naked fear and greed whenever you are about to buy or sell shares. Nothing strips away how good/bad you are at stock trading (or investing) then looking at your profits and losses incurred on the trade.

You feel happy when you’ve made the right call and you feel terrible if you’ve lost money and even worse if the loss is realised.

It is from this experiences that I realise financial freedom by itself will not make me happy. It is how I make use of the financial freedom status to create for myself an optimal flow experience in all aspects of my life. Even the euphoria of trading wins fade after a while and I look out for the next “high” from jeeping/panging an equity position.

Happiness and sadness that is dependent on market conditions sets us up for a life of emotional roller-coaster. This cannot be the receipe for a life filled with optimal experiences.

So how can you structure your life into a flow experience even as you pursue financial freedom?

How pursuing financial freedom helps you achieve flow

A challenging activity that requires skills

Moving from a net-worth position that is negative to a positive one is challenging. It requires you to have skills in budgeting, controlling your desires to spend and to live within your means.

Merging of action and awareness

As you track your net worth towards a bigger and bigger positive number, you tend to feel that your day to day thriftiness does translate into a bigger goal i.e. bringing you closer to financial freedom where your income from savings and investments is able to fund your day-to-day living expenses.

Clear goals and feedback

Nothing clarifies more than your net worth position at the end of the month and whether you’ve spent more than you’ve saved or you’ve manage to live way within your means.

Concentration on the task at hand

Just as you focus on eating that bit less, refraining from softdrinks and living a healthy lifestyle to keep healthcare costs low, energy levels up for work and play, you tend to align your daily goals to the overall plan of being financially free.

Paradox of control

The more your net worth comes into your direct control, the more powerful you feel in your ability to control your financial destiny in life.

Loss of self consciousness

Whether you keep up with the Alis, Lims or Muthus is not so important when you focus on financial freedom. It’s not about what watch you wear but how big is your net worth.

The transformation of time

Time flies when your daily activities are aligned to your life goals. The main thing I realise about pursuing financial freedom is that the process is enjoyable by itself. Seeing my month end balances with savings makes me look forward to the passing of each day and month as I move closer to my goal of financial freedom. The journey is just as fun as the destination.

Be well and prosper.