I stand here physically expressing my freedom, but it is living emotionally free that my heart yearns. For I will only find inner peace when I fully and always express the person I really am, without fear or concern of what others may think.

I now see the signature of successful living as existing free with a feeling of fulfilment deep within, but it wasn’t always this way. Growing up, society had me believing that money would give me the happiness that I always craved. Because with money I would be respected, valued and able to buy objects and possessions that would make me happy. I would be free to do as a I pleased.

But, regardless of the house we live in or the money we have, if we don’t do things that feed our soul we must be aware that empty feeling within won’t disappear. A sense of emotional freedom will never become clear when surrounded by internal doubt or negativity.

When we become conscious of the person we truly are and align our behaviour with our passions and purpose, we send a message to the negativity within, that their days of mastering our serenity are numbered.

As a young adult I spent years living inauthentically and unfulfilled. My corporate job gave me financial security but my heart ached for change. I knew that to feel free, I had to create a life outside of the office walls that gave me control of my own destiny.

So, eager to better understand the empty feeling trapped inside, I dug deeper into the psychology of life and embraced a series of powerful experiences that began to teach me valuable lessons. I became fascinated by transforming my inner world (mindset, beliefs, thoughts, feelings and behavior) and outer world (what I did and how I spent my time), and began to rewire previous beliefs whilst getting clear about what it was that I wanted from my life.

My learnings have culminated in me standing here now, embarking on a rebellious journey outside of conformity that revolves around my passions and values. In doing so I start my journey of living a more authentic life, a life that exists in line with my soul.

So many of us aim to climb the corporate ladder because we think that lifestyle will give us the money and the power to finally feel free. By the time we realise inner peace and fulfillment requires more authentic life choices, we have already missed some of our best years. Society sets us up to go down this path but I believe there is a different way of being, a way that sits outside of the social norms.

True freedom is living unapologetically yourself in line with your passions and expressing yourself fully without fear of judgement. When we live in this way, there is nothing anyone can say or do that will have the power to cause us pain about who we are. We are so in touch with our purpose and what we offer life, that regardless of the environment around us, no negativity will be able to unfavourably impact us. That’s being free and it’s in this place where we all belong.