Growing into Independence

Thank you so much for the great comments on independence! You so captured the spirit of my last blog for our country's celebration of independence. And I feel that our country's independence and fight for it is right in line with what we all want and strive for. But what brings us to that point? Are we all simply born with the desire to be independent? Doesn't it take circumstances of a particular type to bring us to that point?

Think about this... We are born dependent on our parents and the adults around us to take care of us, just like our country was a part of Great Britain and dependent on the mother country to take care of us. As kids, we grew older and more mature and as we did, we grew less and less dependent on those around us and more independent and in desire of more independence. As a country, we grew in ideals and philosophies of what we wanted to be, until we grew to the point we wanted to be on our own and separate from Great Britain.

Aren't we like that with becoming entrepreneurs/independent also? Is it something we all just automatically want and are, or do we grow into it in different ways through our own journeys? Sure, there are those who know right off that's what they want, and the even go to college with that goal in mind and train for it, but they still had to reach that point and then go through their years of school and building their connections to actually acheive their goals and become truly independent. What brought them to that point? What brought you to the point of desiring your independence?

Look at a couple great acheivers of independence like Madonna...

Madonna

We all know her music and how successful she is, but are we aware of what brought her to the point of wanting her independence? In one biography, she stated if, "My mother can't love me then I'll make the world love me." Her mother died from breast cancer when she was five years old and she was brought up by a strict father and step-mother. She was a straight-A student and dreamed of becoming the world's best dancer. This dream began to become a reality when she was awarded a dance scholarship to the University of Michigan's dance team. She remained there three semesters and then left, amidst her father's protests to pursue her own dreams of fame in New York. She started a band that failed, and then went solo, finally releasing her first album Madonna. This first album received negative feedback, yet went platinum and was sold worldwide, and it was not until that point that Madonna's father let go of his protests and disbelief in her. Madonna is now not only successful, but shares her success with others, encouraging women to pursue their dreams and avidly active with the Aids Institute.

LeBron James

LeBron James had all eyes on him only last week, when he was finally a free agent basketball player and able to choose which team he'd like to play with. He was completely independent, and feeling all the glory and frustrations that come with it. He is now a player for the Miami Heat of the NBA. At the age of 18, he was selected with the number one pick in the 2003 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers and signed to a US $90 million shoe contract with Nike before his professional debut, and has set numerous youngest player records since joining the league. Yet, LeBron was born in Akron, Ohio, to a 16-year-old mother, and his biological father was an ex-convict who left LeBron's mother alone to raise him on her own.

My Journey

What was your journey? What brought you to the point of wanting independence and entrepreneurship? For me, it's been a long journey of freeing myself in a number of ways. One of the most significant freedoms was leaving a marriage where I was expected to remain at home with my son, jobless and unable to go to college and pursue any of my dreams. After our divorce, I couldn't wait to begin to fulfill those dreams. I started with a community college, where I was awarded an AA with a 4.0 while working full-time and then went on to pursue my B.A., my M.A. and am now working on my Ph.D. Of course, any of us with high educational goals has something special in mind - independence...financial independence, research independence, entrepreneurship and more. Going through a Ph.D. takes a lot of commitment, in time, work, and more. It comes with a cost, just as any entrepreneurship does.

What's YOUR Journey?

What's your cost? What brought you to this point of wanting financial freedom and independence? What was your journey to get here? Share with me below, and watch for future blogs answering these questions and more...

Yours towards complete indepdendence!

Thea