Although it isn’t our explicit goal here at ConCap®, it is possible that The ConCap Way – one in which people hyper-save and invest their money early so that they can reach financial freedom much sooner than normal – becomes an every-day occurrence in society. We have a long way to go for that to happen in the collective, but here are 5 mindset shifts you can make to facilitate your journey to financial freedom.
1. Be openminded
Unfortunately, financial literacy (forget financial freedom) is not taught in our school systems. So folks who graduate from high school and even college are already at a disadvantage.
If you want to attain your financial freedom, you have to challenge the notion that you’ll retire at 65. That is a very tall task because people are literally conditioned to prioritize their work and not their leisure. Retiring, at least attaining freedom from a full-time job, is just not part of the plan for most folks. The truth is that so many of us end up being forced into it due to mandatory retirement ages imposed at workplaces and such.
So to prioritize leisure, to bring importance to the concept of not working, is to turn the applecart upside-down. So you’ll need to be open-minded enough to seriously consider this approach.
2. Embrace experiences
At ConCap®, we are all about experiences. Evidence has shown that material things, do not make you happy. Connecting with people, connecting with yourself, spending time with friends and family, going on vacation, doing something fun, embracing the present moment – do these things and you are much more likely to be happy.1
If you are going to take the radical route of financial freedom, then you’ll need the money to take care of the essentials and the rest is for creating those experiences.
3. Cultivate minimalism
The less you have, the less you have to constantly shell out money for and the more money you can spend on things that truly matter.
There is an old Buddhist proverb that each of our possessions takes up some space in your mind. In essence, a cluttered house means a cluttered mind. So less possessions means your mind isn’t cluttered. And it is a lot easier to spend your money intentionally if your mind is clear. Minimalism is a tremendous help in your ability to do that.
4. Seriously re-evaluate the purpose of your life
Thoreau once said that he observed the vast majority of people around him engaging in lifelong work and drudgery only so that they can have an expensive funeral. The ConCap Way is really about asking ourselves with is the point of it all. It is about challenging the notion that the value of your life is as a cog in the economic machine.
If you doubt this notion, ask yourself how much time you spend on work, or on work-related activities. On top of the 8-9 hours per weekday you spend working, think about the time it takes for you to get ready for work, the time it takes you to travel to work, the time you spend socializing with co-workers, the time you work on weekends, the time you spend thinking of work on weekends. Think about all of that and ask yourself, “Is this really how I want to spend my time? Or would I rather spend my time doing something else?” Anyone currently working with or thinking of working with ConCap® has asked the same question and came to the conclusion that they wanted to do something else.
Sources:
1 – Solan, Matthew. (2017, October 5). The secret to happiness? Here’s some advice from the longest-running study on happiness. Harvard Health Blog. Retrieved September 30, 2022, from https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/the-secret-to-happiness-heres-some-advice-from-the-longest-running-study-on-happiness-2017100512543
News Release: Bureau of Labor Statistics U.S. Department of Labor. (1981, February). Employment and unemployment: a report on 1980. Retrieved September 30, 2022, from
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