Personal Development
Live The Luxurious Life of Independence
A prized position well-worth the effort, responsibility and challenge.
Money doesn’t buy you love, but it does buy independence—one highly emotional and sought after position on which you should place no price tag.
Society assumes the natural right of passage for all individuals is to gain skills, knowledge and experience in preparation for the responsibility of independence later in life.
Well, we all know what they say about assumptions? They are often not true, and the action of assuming can be dangerous.
Independence is a position earned, not gifted to you on a silver platter. The challenges and benefits are worth the initial effort.
Become the best (or worst) person you can be
Either is actually okay because it is authentic to you!
Independence is a most valuable personal quality. If you are genuinely independent, you can make and carry out important decisions yourself without too much outside counsel. In doing so, you take responsibility and are willing to deal with the consequences of your actions. Additionally, you can judge whether an action is practicable, socially possible, and morally sound.
Your decisions may not be the same as the next person’s, but they are yours. The beauty of this is, you learn from YOUR wins, losses and mistakes. The latter often providing the best lessons of all.
Become literate in financial matters
Without at least a taste of independence, you cannot hope to have a good head on your shoulders in terms of your finances—an area in which one should take charge as soon as practical. We often have different goals and interests from our parents or guardians. With parents in control (directly or indirectly), we cannot grow and achieve our financial goals to the fullest. Dependency hinders growth and the ability to think for oneself.
Due to its value and finite amount, money is a critical area in which we make some horrible mistakes that we may regret for some time. Unfortunately, there are opportunities everywhere for making poor financial decisions. Many of these – particularly for newly independent people are associated with easy access to credit and the ‘buy now, pay later’ schemes. For some people, this fuels the development of poor spending habits. However, we learn and grow from our biggest mistakes and with that comes the wisdom that we take with us to our future financial goals.
I challenge you to take charge of your financial decisions and make those that suit your lifestyle choices while living within your means, of course.
Take the plunge for a clearer vision
After moving out in my early twenties, I started my teaching career — a profession that requires not only a good head on your shoulders but the ability to make sound decisions that affect a lot of young people. After my first few years of teaching, I slowly became more confident, sensible and had somewhat more wisdom than in my university years.
Independence gave me a better sense of self. A sense of self is vital for all individuals because it helps us know how we see challenges and tackle difficult situations in life. By making these connections, we become less robotic and develop differentiated personalities.
Value your position too much to let it go
You realise just how much you value your independence when someone threatens to take it away from you, whether that be an overkeen wannabe significant other or an overbearing parent. I had an issue with the former about two years ago.
A fat, bald man from the internet came in and out of my life in one evening. This man was extraordinary. He took me to a very fancy restaurant on our first date. However, the entire conversation was on our future together. In his head, we were already a couple. He was looking forward to the trips we would take together and all the plans we’d make for our family. These were the scariest conversations I had faced in quite some time.
Needless to say, this gentleman was not the one for me.
The grass is greener on the independent side
Here’s how to get there and stay there:
- Be the best person you can be.
- Improve your understanding of finance.
- Take chances — you might land somewhere extraordinary.
- Maintain your independence, and don’t take it for granted.
