I'm a believer that no matter what country your from, no matter who you are, no matter your past or your current situation... there's one thing we all want from life... we all just want to be happy.

My definition of the word happiness can also include being fulfilled, being proud of who you are, feeling good about life, feeling successful ect.

Happiness comes in many forms but I think there's one thing that will make all people from all walks of life with all different interests happy, no matter what your definition of happiness is or what happiness means to you.

...And that one thing is freedom.

Having freedom in all areas of your life enables you to pursue your own happiness unhindered... letting you work on any area of your life without obstacles... and ensures you can experience and strive towards the things that make you happy.

If you have freedom to do what you want... then all you need to do is identify what makes you happy and then do it. Life becomes simple, and being happy is effortless.

Financial Freedom

I think financial freedom is incredibly important for happiness. If your struggling to pay the bills at a 9-5 it takes a lot more effort to be happy than if you're off riding elephants through Thailand for example.

Financial freedom gives you the incredible ability to seek out the countless amazing experiences our world has to offer and dive into them.

Imagine deciding you want to learn how to hand craft guitars in India... or spend a while traversing the beautiful landscape of New Zealand, or experience what it's like to climb the Himalaya Mountains. Maybe you're not into travel but you'd like to see what it's like to drive an F1 race car, or take a sky diving course, or you simply like eating in fancy restaurants every night of the week. Financial freedom gives you that choice to do what you want when you want.

Its true money doesn't make you happy... but the freedom money offers lets you pursue the things that do make you happy without trouble.

To achieve financial freedom its best to create multiple sources of income for yourself that don't require you to trade the hours of your life away for a fixed amount of money. Strive to set your life up in a way that allows you to work as much or as little as you want, when you want, and that gives you an amount of income proportional to the amount of work you do. Try to have the type of work that allows you to make money even while you're not working. (Like making cash from book sales)

Health Freedom

Keeping in good health and good physical shape gives you other kinds of freedoms. Staying fit will allow you to do all the athletic things like go hiking, try mountain climbing, run marathons, do martial arts or any other physical activity you enjoy.

Having a fit body will also likely improve your self esteem giving you confidence when interacting with other people freeing you to act without self consciousness. It might also open up your dating options too, freeing you to find the perfect relationship partner.

To achieve freedom in the area of health you obviously just need to get in shape and then maintain it. There are countless guides on healthy eating and exercise out there so look one up if your struggling!

Personal Freedom

Personal freedom mainly means freedom from fear. Whatever it is you want to go for in life you can do it without letting your personal fears get in the way and stop you. If you want to quit your 9-5 and start your own business you'll need to be able to push your fears out of the way in order to take the leap.

This can also be expanded to having freedom from personal issues that get in the way during social interactions. If you want to enrich your life with loving friends and deep relationships having the freedom to be confident and to be social will go a long way.

Personal freedom is about having your life together, being confident, making intelligent choices, building strong personal relationship skills, and being free of personal issues.

I think the best way to improve your personal freedom is through exposure to situations that challenge you to grow. If you afraid to talk to strangers then work on it little by little... If your social skills suck then get out there and practice. These things don't happen on their own... but all you need to make progress is a little effort over a period of time. And for the record... travelling is the best way to get these comfort zone expanding experiences!

Final Thoughts

Happiness comes from a balance of many areas of life including financial abundance, strong health, meaningful relationships, and more... but the important thing in life is to attain the freedom to be able to pursue and work on your happiness in all these areas of life unhindered.

Work on achieving freedom and the rest will be effortless.

Read more articles from this author about personal development through travel at:

http://www.traveltogrow.com

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