Freedom

I really have my brain in a tizzy tonight. I seem to be making circular arguments and was hoping to spit something out concrete and with clarity. We'll see if I get there by the end of this. Earlier in the day while I was getting ready to jump on a treadmill, I overheard a woman ask another, “Are we working out tomorrow?” The second woman started a response with, “Oh no, I can't…” I never paid attention to the second woman's concluding remarks about why “she can't” work out tomorrow, but it immediately got me thinking of those two words, “I can't.”

Sometimes the two words, “I can't” are part of a belief system as in, “I can't do an Ironman?!?!?” This type of “I can't” is part of a disbelief in the physical possibilities. The type of “I can't” that is a severe and deep-rooted lack of confidence in the possibilities of personal achievement. But this was a different kind of “I can't.” This “I can't” was more of a restrictive force, a preventative action of some sort of dichotomy between free will or lack thereof. This “I can't” is used in the context of some greater force in action cast from the heavens and beyond the control of oneself thus restricting a person's actions and own decision making ability. Are people just using “I can't” as a social excuse or are people really ignorant because they lack not only an awareness of the implications of their actions but also any capacity to reflect on their alternatives and their long-term consequences? (Was that a run on sentence/question???)

Throughout the rest of my treadmill workout and workday I was able to come up with plenty of examples of “I can't” that most of us hear quite frequently;

• I can't quit my job…
• I can't go back to school
• I can't workout during the week
• I can't ride my bike this weekend
• I can't save any money

Again, the term “I can't” isn't used as part of a deep-rooted belief as in “physically impossible.” The term “I can't” is being used to describe a lack of freedom of choice or lack of liberty in general. I would like to challenge people on this at some point in the future. If they said, “I can't quit my job,” I might respond with, “Or what? Will they lock you in prison? Will someone beat you with a lead pipe if you quit your job?” I don't know, maybe the person is married and their spouse would beat them with a lead pipe? What are the ramifications of not accepting, “I can't.”

Here in the United States , it's a free country (the last time I checked). We have the freedom to do just about anything we want to do so long as it doesn't harm another person or unless it is something against public policy. People have indeed died obtaining and defending this freedom. We have the freedom to quit jobs, play music, stay up past midnight, watch television, ride bikes, have children, get in a car and drive any place that we desire (as long as we could afford the gas), be married, not be married, go to church or not go to church. We basically have the freedom to choose.

So if we have all of this freedom, why is it that people “can't” save money, change jobs, exercise, eat healthy, reduce stress, sleep more and spend more time doing things we enjoy? The reality is that people do not take the responsibility associated with having freedom to heart.

Freedom allows us the opportunity for choices and choices will indeed result in consequences which could be good or bad. You have the freedom to choose to jump out of an airplane, but you also might put a big dent in a farmers tomato patch if the chute doesn't open. You have the freedom to quit a job, but the consequences are that something else will change. You might get a better boss, you might get a worse boss. You might make more money, but you might make less money. You might want to work less hours but you might want to make more money. But the choice is still up to you.

The onus is on each of us to be responsible for our own actions. What we do with this freedom, how we maximize it or waste it, is squarely placed in our own lap. Choices also can impact us for years to come. A choice to have a child and follow through with the actual birth of a child is a decision that will impact a person for the rest of their life. We are all products of the small and sometimes large decisions that we have made up to this point in our lives. We made a choice to perhaps go to school or not go to school, accept a job or not accept a job, continue at a job or quit a job, get married or stay single. Some will choose to have children, others not, etc.

I have traded a few emails in the past with Justin Daerr. Justin's a young guy in his early 20's that just ripped a sub-9:00 Ironman at Florida in 2005. He decided to go to Clermont for the winter (choice). He decided against a typical job path after college (choice). He decided to put his emphasis on training rather than watching TV and eating chips (choice). He is financially limited since he is not pursuing jobs with long work hours (choice). It is not whether or not you and I would choose and make the same decisions as Justin. It's whether Justin is happy with the decisions that he makes in his pursuit of personal happiness.

We have all made choices in the past that in hindsight we regret. Learning from those instances leads to wisdom. Changing the past can't happen. Changing the future can happen. Recognizing that tomorrow will bring a new set of choices is an exciting proposition. Making choices is sometimes difficult though. It is tough to make certain decisions because there might not be a guaranteed outcome.

Although there might not be a guaranteed outcome, there are things that we could do to assist the decision making process. I think first and foremost is determining what makes us happy. Do you like to work 14 hours a day or do you like to ride your bike? Do you like living in a bigger house than is needed or do you like having a smaller mortgage commitment? Do you like constantly wondering how you are going to meet this month's financial obligations or do you like to know that you have excess disposable income? Do you like spending resources on prevention or treatment relative to your health?

If you like playing the piano, the best thing to do is figure out a way to play the piano as much as you would like. It doesn't really matter whether you like gardening, painting pictures, woodworking, walking on the beach, or swimming, biking and running (although I could tell you what I like…). If you could identify what makes you happy, making future choices becomes easier. You have an objective, a goal and a strategy. If you like to do Ironman and a decision has to be made about something, ask yourself, “Is option A or option B going to allow me to swim, bike and run more?”

In the end, it's all about prioritization. Each of us will prioritize things differently. You obviously love Ironman triathlon (or you wouldn't be reading and surfing this website). However, giving up a professional career to ride your bike all day long might not make you as happy as keeping your professional career and still doing Ironman but on a lesser scale. The choice is yours because of your freedom to choose. But the issue really isn't “I can” or “I can't.” The terminology that is more appropriate is, “I would rather…” as in;

• I would rather work so I could have more purchasing power
• I would rather spend more time with my children
• I would rather watch the football game
• I would rather stay out late on the weekend than get up early to train

The important thing to think about is if you would rather do Ironman and if Ironman makes you happy, and if so, how much do you want to do it. Since we can't change the past, but we can change the future, what decisions could you make increase your source of happiness?

Finally, we have to be honest with ourselves once we have made a decision. As much as all of us would like to have everything, we need to prioritize our time and resources to match our wants and needs. But if you know you like to swim, bike and run, the best thing you could do to make yourself happy is make daily decisions that allow you to swim, bike and run. But don't waste your freedom.