What is the best path to happiness and freedom?
Moreover, how do we get there in the quickest amount of time?
John or Jane Doe says, “I don’t need to be happy. I just need to be successful.”
The key word in the above two sentences is ‘Need.’
Jerry or Janis Smith says, “I could rule the world, but these days I’m just not motivated.”
The key word in the above sentence is ‘Motivated.’
Let’s explore what need and motivation have to do with happiness and freedom.
Maslow’s Hierarchy Of Needs
Abraham Maslow was a 20th century psychologist who developed a hierarchy of needs to explain human motivation.
He based his theory on people having a number of basic needs that must be met before they are able to move up the hierarchy, or ladder so to speak, to pursue more social, emotional, and self-actualizing needs.
Starting at the bottom of the ladder, let’s examine our Physiological Needs and what they have to do with the best path to happiness and freedom.
We need air to breathe.
Water to drink.
Food to eat.
Shelter to protect ourselves from outside elements.
Sleep to rest and recharge the mind and body.
Clothing for warmth.
If these physiological needs are not satisfied, the human body cannot function optimally.
The next rung up on the ladder are Safety Needs, which cover personal security, employment, resources, health, property.
- Personal security is about where we live and the way we live. How we guard our personal and work information in the 21st century, in protecting ourselves from bad people and or bad situations.
- We’re born, we grow up, we’re told to get a good education and then find a good job. Employment is engrained into our brains from the time we hit our early teens. We need to earn a living, so that we can live. Money to pay the rent or the mortgage, to pay the energy, phone, and other utility bills.
- Resources, whether for personal or business use, enable us to make better use of our time, to communicate with others, to function both in life and in our working environments.
- No doubt at some point you’ve heard the phrase, “Hey, at least I have my Health.” I would argue that good health is high on the list of needs. Because without good health, you cannot function in life.
- Property, as in the car or truck we own that gets us to and from, the home we own.
It would be hard for anyone to disagree with what they’ve read thus far.
The physiological and safety needs that Maslow lists in his hierarchy of needs are essential to our survival here on earth.
Getting By Won’t Deliver Happiness and Freedom
Look at people you know, are they just getting by?
Happy with little?
Have they or have you called it a day after having your physiological and safety needs met in life?
Is this happening to you?
Some might say, “I’m blessed and fortunate to have what I have.”
I would agree with that statement wholeheartedly because I know that all I am and all that I have is because of and thanks to Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Humbleness and gratefulness are the necessary foundation if we are to want more and expect to achieve happiness and freedom in life.
Yet, humbleness and gratefulness will not fulfill you to where you are both happy and free in this life.
Maslow knew this and every person who strives for more, whether it be for those they love or because of their unique purpose in life, knows it as well.
Love, a connection with those who mean the most to you and or inspire you, can be the springboard to your path to happiness and freedom.
Would you be happy if you earned over one million dollars this year and were all alone, had no one to share your good news or your good fortune with?
Anyone who answers yes to that question is just fooling themselves into believing something that isn’t true.
Without love, without connection, happiness and freedom are not possible.
We need a reason for doing, something or someone to motivate us to strive for something more.
Whether it be your wife, your husband, your children, your employees, or your faith; the path to greatness, to finding your own optimal edge in life begins with your reason, your purpose for being and doing.
Purpose Drives Happiness and Freedom
Whether it be your wife, your husband, your children, your employees, or your faith; the path to greatness, to finding your own optimal edge in life begins with your reason, your purpose for being and doing.
You won’t find your purpose by:
- Buying books or tapes that promote get rich schemes
- Working endless hours working for someone else (your W-2 job)
- Watching endless hours of television
- Copying someone else’s life purpose
- Always trying to please others
You will find your purpose by:
- Being Inspired, through mentorship or successful role models
- Finding a mission, a vocation that interests you
- One that comes easily to you, meaning you do it well
- A purpose that enables you to help others get what they want
That last one, helping other people get what they want, is really one of the big keys to attaining happiness and freedom.
Hilary Hinton Ziglar, the tenth of twelve children was born in Alabama, back in 1926.
In 1947, after dropping out of college, he took a job as a salesman with a cookware company, and by 1950 had worked his way up to supervising one of the company’s divisions.
Despite his immediate success, young Hilary wanted more from life, he wanted to inspire others to succeed in business and in life, so in 1963 he became a founding member of American Salesmasters.
Their mission was to educate people on how to become successful salespeople.
Moreover, they accomplished this by providing seminars in cities across the USA, featuring successful business persons and entrepreneurs from all walks of business and life, people who had actually achieved success in their fields.
Hilary Hinton “Zig” Ziglar would go onto form the Zigmanship Institute, today known as Ziglar, Inc. and would go onto be one of the greatest motivational speakers of our time.
His purpose in life was to motivate others to become all they could be so that they could attain happiness and freedom.
Moreover, he uttered one of the greatest quotes about life and business, “If you can dream it, then you can achieve it. You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.”
Your purpose in life is the reason that you jump out of bed in the morning and prepare to face the day with a never-ending enthusiasm to move toward the life that you’ve always dreamed of!
It’s what drives you to achieve your goals in life.
Your purpose provides gives your life meaning and establishes a genuine connection with you and society in the way you add value to the lives of others.
Knowing your purpose, and fueling the desire to become the best you can possibly be, is your best path to happiness and freedom!
The Road From Dependence To Interdependence
Dependence, is defined as the state of relying on or being controlled by someone or something else. A reliance on someone or something for financial support.
When you work for someone or something (a company or business), you are a W-2 employee.
Moreover, you are living in a state of dependence. You are dependent on that job in order to put food on your table, and pay your bills.
While it’s possible to achieve some happiness in a job you love, you won’t be moving toward the life you’ve always dreamed of because all you’ll be doing is helping someone else achieve the life that they’ve always dreamed of.
After all, it’s not your business, it’s not your company. All of the hard work you’re doing is to help realize someone else’s dream, in exchange for paid wages.
Independence, is defined as the state or quality of being independent, freedom from the control, influence, support, aid, or the like, of others.
Society tells us that when you’ve formed your own company, you’ve made it in business and in life!
The above statement is partially true in that you are now the master of your own time, how you go about your business and how you deal with your clients, customers and the functions of your business.
That’s the upside. The downside is that if you don’t work to make money, you don’t eat.
Moreover, if you’re not careful, you have now become the “Owner of Your Very Own Job.”
One of the best books on business ever written is Michael Gerber’s “E-Myth Revisited.”
It’s a book well worth your time to read and one of the gems pointed out in the book is that successful business owners and entrepreneurs understand to work on their business, not in their business.
Interdependence defined, is the dependence of two or more people or things on each other.
Zig Ziglar understood interdependence when his purpose in life was to help others get what they want in business and in life.
Those people who attended his seminars and purchased his books became dependent on his proven knowledge, strategies, and tactics on how to become successful in sales and in business.
In closing, Interdependence is the path to your happiness and freedom.
Because when you’re interdependent, you’re helping others achieve their dreams in life and in return they are helping you achieve yours.
Interdependence, done with a sincere and unique benefit to society and mankind, will result in you living a successful and meaningful life.
You will experience the financial rewards in that you’ll never worry or stress about money, because you will be financially rewarded in exchange of the counsel, services and products you provide to others.
Moreover, you’ll always be in a position to help others, individuals in need or worthy causes to benefit society and mankind.
Interdependence means you are free to live your life in the manner you choose to.
Not having to punch a timecard, or be required to be somewhere or do something that you do not want to do.
You can help change the lives of others in so many ways.
By giving them sound advice to improve their financial and living situations or providing them with services and products that will genuinely improve their lives.
Here at the Optimal Edge Network, we are about inspiring others to achieve happiness, freedom and interdependence in business and in life.
We help radio, television and online streaming shows connect with the people their messaging and content will resonate the most with.
Connecting advertisers with their target customers by placing their messaging on radio, television, and online streaming shows where their ideal customers go for information and entertainment.
Moreover, providing all of this programming free of charge to people all across the country with the hope they will be inspired to live the life they’ve always dreamed of.
This is where Information and Entertainment Come Together to Inspire and Help People All Across the World!
Get FREE ACCESS to all of our content to help your radio show, television or podcast, by subscribing to our newsletter on the main home page.
