Never quit, enjoy life and be inspired

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Several months ago, late in the evening, I took a cab from the airport. This was in NY; cabbies are talkative in NY. My cabbie was a man in his late 50s. Conversation flowed as the odometer rolled on the miles. The meter, of course, kept pace.

“I’m a bit tired,” – said the cabbie. “This is my second shift. Yet, I am excited and happy to keep spinning the wheel.”

“Why?” – I asked.

The cabbie stopped at the light, whipped out his cell phone and turned it on. As wallpaper on his phone, there was a photo of triplets.

“You must be happy to have grandkids,” I said. “I guess you are working to help out with expenses.”

“Yep, they do require some spending,” said the cabbie. “Except they are not my grandkids. Continue reading →

Broke? It’s your fault.

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“I retired on a $30,000 a year defined-benefit pension. There have been no inflation adjustments to my pension income, but I certainly felt inflation. And I did not have much invested beyond that.”

I heard this today from a 60-something year-old retired gentleman in Florida. There is so much I could have told him. But I didn’t. Because what I had to say cannot help him now. It would have been much more useful 30 years ago… Continue reading →

If you are aiming high…

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It’s true. Previously, I wrote about the virtues of avoiding or quitting your job. And now, it’s time to amend that post.

One of my friends said something interesting the other day. “If you are reaching for something up high,” he said, “It helps to stand on something.”

My first impulse was to argue. After all, I did write the post describing various ways in which employment can hurt a person. But then, I reconsidered. Allow me to explain… Continue reading →

10 commandments of personal freedom

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How do you build a life as a free person, a free life? I spent considerable time with a pen and paper and came up with 10 commandments of personal freedom. Without further ado, here they are:

  1. Thou shall not fear
  2. Thou shall know thyself and be true to thyself
  3. Thou shall favor action over inaction
  4. Thou shall live thy own life
  5. Thou shall value thy time
  6. Thou shall not accept the unacceptable
  7. Thou shall continue learning
  8. Thou shall have integrity
  9. Thou shall connect with the world
  10. Thy shall be flexible

In the next series of posts, we will explore these in detail and discuss what these mean. In the meanwhile, share your thoughts in the comments!

A change in focus

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My most important goal now is attaining personal freedom. I previously mentioned my thoughts on the 3 pillars of personal freedom. I stand by this idea. Let me explain…

Some people have too narrow a view of personal freedom, assigning too much importance to any one factor – i.e. “just make enough money and everything else will fall into place.” Some people lack focus altogether – “you must have all your bases covered, including career, emotional state, physical and mental health, personal relationships, retirement planning, personal growth etc.”

I think the 3 pillars of personal freedom, if not all-inclusive, are comprehensive enough without ignoring anything essential. At the same time, the 3 pillars tightly focus on the key building blocks of personal freedom. Let’s revisit the pillars. Continue reading →