About

What's Free to Pursue?

This blog is about living life on your terms. That is, experiencing true personal freedom—as you define it—and how to find it sooner than later,  despite the messages society bombards us with every day. 

Who am I? 

A person in search of all that life has to offer and who has built a life that enables her to do just that. No more, no less. 

I chose to "retire" from corporate life in my mid-thirties because it wasn't in line with what I wanted anymore. I was a workaholic who didn't appreciate life the way one should anymore. I didn't take care of myself, I was constantly preoccupied, and didn't appreciate the people around me. I was too busy with what doesn't matter to realise I wasn't paying attention to what does:

• Relationships
• Self care/good health
• Continuous learning
• Being present in our own lives

Despite knowing what the answer was deep down, I only slowly started waking up some years before leaving, as my liquid courage grew to a point where I felt I had a number of options available to me. I didn't fully appreciate my level freedom until a specific event triggered my departure four months after its occurrence. I guess you could say it was my "red pill" because I couldn't leave that environment fast enough and vowed never to find myself in a similar situation again.

After about four months of getting used to the new life (a much needed semi-vacation/sabbatical), I thought I would give this blogging gig a shot, thinking it would be an interesting and educational pursuit. After all, I've always been willing to try new things. Nothing ventured nothing gained, right?

And it has been. The blog has encouraged me to think about what it means to lead a successful life and has prompted me to feed my curiosity by devouring books. Lots and lots of books. Enough for me to declare a goal to read 1,000 books. It's a start, right?

Why Start Free to Pursue?

I created the F2P blog to offer evidence that “putting in your time” at a job just to collect a paycheque, because it's "the right thing to do", or because you will qualify for retirement at some distant point in the future, is not the way it has to be. We can be free to pursue what we want in life and have the means to get there with less effort than one might think. I wanted to create a place where we could have some dialog around what we can do to live the life we know we want but don't always allow ourselves to have for various reasons: fear, doubt, debt, culture, peer pressure, family obligations, ego, uncertainty.

I also felt it was a good complement to what I do on a part-time basis, along with consulting, writing and speaking: working as a kinesiologist training fellow current and ex-white-collar professionals. I guess you could say F2P is the "brain" that complements the "brawn".

There are lots of personal finance and lifestyle blogs...So What's My take? 

There are too many people, professionals & corporate types who are still members of the “walking dead”. Who are the walking dead? People who have long lost interest in their work and show up day in and day out for the sole purpose of collecting a paycheque/receiving a full pension, providing the means to maintain their social and/or professional status, including buying things they don't need and paying off the debt they accumulated acquiring them. Their job is an obligation, merely a means to maintain their “required” lifestyle and/or their status. You know, what you’re "supposed to do" to keep up with everyone’s expectations.

Welcome to The Matrix Neo!

Argh! No thanks! 

I want to share an alternative view: We don't have to be a member of the walking dead. We can take the red pill (if you have already - congrats!) and see the fallacy society teaches us: 

We need to be good little widgets otherwise everything falls apart.

Does this resonate with you? Then you might be interested to read more. If you're irritated by the concept, hmm...food for thought.

Think there's a related topic I should address on this blog? Let me know.

Thanks for dropping by. I hope you enjoy your visit.

Sincerely, 

Hélène Massicotte (aka Free to Pursue)