Depending on how long you expect to live on earth, being independent at a much younger age is a very juicy achievement!.
What Does Young really mean?
According to the Cambridge dictionary, “young is having lived or existed for only a short period, which also means youthful and Juvenile”.
Some, however, argue that age is just a number and the state of mind.
What Does Independence Mean For You?
Being independent means a lot of things to a lot of people. However, to most of us it simply means being “Free from outside control; not depending on another’s authority.” I had the taste of what independence would mean to me when I first left the family home to my university room, not too far from campus.
Many of you may have left home for the first time to study at university. This likely means living independent lives from your parents and making decisions about what you eat, with whom you associate when to study, how much of a social life you choose to have and how many student jobs you take on.
This is a path to adulthood, and it is to a large extent enjoyable even considering how broke you can get as a young adult.
This is a path I also traveled. And in my experience I found that keeping the right company, identifying and working towards available student financial support, saving as much as possible, and staying focused on my academic goals, all helped towards my financial independence.
Right now, it would be great for you to pick up a pen, and make a list of all the people, and things that have control and authority over your life (your boss, your parents, your partner, your teacher, your siblings, your health, etc, and imagine being free from it all. Amazing, isn’t it?
Some Common Dependence Habits Are;
- Living with your parents or relatives.
- Working a 9am- 5pm Job.
- Being on government benefits.
- Studying on a student Loan.
- Counting on grants or donations to fund your projects.
- Squatting at friends’.
- Relying on your husband, wife, girlfriend, or boyfriend.
- Living in a rented or mortgaged house.
- Financial Handouts.
- Relying on your priest, pastor, or church leader for your spiritual growth.
- And much more…
Four Other Types of Independence
Generally, when people hear the word independence, what they tend to dwell on is the material aspect of it. However, there are other types of independence like;
- Spiritual independence ( forging your relationship with your God at your own pace).
- Health and Fitness Independence ( not relying on a doctor to tell you what to eat, or on a fitness trainer on how to maintain your physical fitness).
- Herd Mentality ( being able to express your own opinion without necessarily following the crowd or getting entangled in “groupthink”).
- Non-conformance (being able to break away from the family, community, societal, cultural, and friends’ expectations, to experiment with things in your way).
The Most Sought After Independence
The current dynamics in today’s society makes financial independence the most sought after form of independence.
When you become financially independent, you’ll realize that a lot of the external control and authority over your life will fade away. Moreover, whilst some people become financially independent through an inheritance, most people must work their way up to independence.
Financially independent people have valuable holdings (assets), commonly known as a passive income that yields enough money to at least cater for their expenses, without them having to work at a job.
Some of the points mentioned in this article will be elaborated upon in subsequent articles. Kindly look out for updates on this . The main objective of this, is to provide you with all the help you need in order to live that healthy, peaceful, financially free, spiritually resilient, emotionally positive, and worry free life that we all desire.
I encourage you to make time today to start the independence process. Start with the cleansing from this one thing that is really holding you back. True forgiveness is hard, and therefore, it must be taken very seriously, to truly break free from bondage and make progress in life.
Becoming independent can help you achieve your goals and live the life that you love, which also includes having enough money to make decisions and choices that you want to make.
