Achieving Financial Freedom: Level 1, 2, and 3

As you may know, I have been practicing the Miracle Morning exercises each day these last few weeks. With these rituals you’re supposed to meditate, read, exercise, write, and practice visualizations and affirmations before you start the day, so that the rest of the day is continued on a positive and productive note. One of the exercises in these SAVERS rituals is visualization, in which you imagine who you want to become and what you’re going to do today. I’ve been trying to visualize my ideal life and self, and I think I’ve essentially honed down on my vision when it comes to EXTERNAL success. Internally, I know I want to achieve peace of mind and get to a state where I don’t wish for more. But externally, the outside success I envision for myself has changed overtime, and now I’ve been pretty much imagining the same thing over and over again (and of course, it involves achieving financial freedom).

While I was in Hong Kong in 2017, I got dinner with my friend Michael and his good friends. Before the dinner, Michael had mentioned that one of his friends, Jason, was the co-founder of Caviar who later sold his company to Square. For some reason I didn’t really think much when we hung out – I guess I didn’t connect the dots. When we met, Jason and his girlfriend seemed like ordinary, chill, nice people who had been traveling for the last 3 years. They were kind and asked me a lot of questions even though I was extremely introverted at the hangout. But after the dinner, I sifted through their Facebook and Instagram photos, and I was blown away:

(taken from his Instagram)

As you can tell, Jason and his girlfriend, Grace, are living it up. He built a business, sold it, and is now reaping the benefits, in which he now has the freedom and time to pursue his dreams and design his lifestyle. I loved that Jason and his girlfriend were so humble and ordinarily dressed that I had no idea of their success. I was also amazed that Jason and I had attended the same university. It kind of shows that our life trajectories just depend on the steps we take in the present moment, and that any ordinary person can achieve the levels of success they want to if they set their mind to it. It’s like the lesson in the Miracle Morning book – who you become is more important than what you do now, but what you do now shapes who you become. Featured on Forbes 30 under 30, he went from selling stuff and going into debt while creating his startup, to selling his company for a few hundred million dollars (the exact amount is never mentioned but I believe it is around this figure). While he was building his startup, his parents had even told him to stop and some of his team members had left cause of the lack of funds. His background and story prove that we all go through struggles, yet we all have the opportunity to achieve great heights, if we just go for it.

I never told them this, but just meeting them kind of changed my life. I was extremely inspired by his passion, determination, humility, and achievements. It was part of the reason why I realized that though my $4k/month passive income covered my expenses and allowed me to save money while traveling, I wasn’t at a point where I could do WHATEVER I wanted, and I wasn’t creating anything super fulfilling.

I listened to a BiggerPockets podcast the other day about the concept of LEVELS of financial freedom. I didn’t even know that existed, but it makes so much sense. You could say I hit maybe “level 2” of financial freedom, but now I realize I want to achieve the highest level instead.

I used to beat myself up over that desire for more. I didn’t care about money, and felt I didn’t need too much to move around as I was saving a decent amount while traveling. I was basically financially free. So why did I want so much passive income coming in?

But if I were to be real with myself, I want to own many properties around the world and have the ability to live life Jason-style with 0 limitations or worries. I think that superfluous cashflow enables him to reduce outside noise and pressures so that he is more present, in the moment, and focused on his life purpose. I’d like to be on that same level. I plan out my life too much and put too much pressure on myself. I constantly ask “am I on the right track” in all areas of my life.

I also want the ability to lock myself in a studio and work on my music for a few weeks, if I wanted to, without thinking “should I be working on something else/do I need to build up my income streams”? I’d like to be able to invest a lot in myself when it comes to equipment or education without thinking “but I want to save and increase my net worth instead”. And lastly, like Jason, I want to have created a business in line with my passions that I’m really proud of. I love that Jason owns a blog and a bunch of restaurants now as he’s a travel & food lover. The thing is, once you reach those heights, you can keep working on your passions as well as invest and make money work for you. Nothing is really stopping you at that point.

My current salary, passive income, and net worth are great even for the Bay (I track all this info on a spreadsheet). But I plan for the future too much, so I’m always going to be quite minimal and value driven cause I guess that’s my personality – I always try to be financially aware (which can sometimes hinder me, I think). I’m still in that phase where I want to keep multiplying my net worth, and I can only get out of that meticulously financially smart mindset when I never have to factor in money ever again (AKA level 3 financial freedom).

So anyway, my point is I think I’ve made more clear where I want to be with my life. When I visualize my future, I see myself mastering these areas: music, real estate investment, and business/marketing. I also see myself helping causes I care about after I’ve achieved these personal successes. Financially, I see the passive income & net worth increasing so quickly that there is zero worry when it comes to money. Money will feel like play money and won’t really matter at all – it would just be a tool for me to achieve that freedom. And I see myself traveling whenever I want, wherever I want, doing whatever I want (maybe with a partner who gets me and hustles for the same things). I don’t need THINGS. It’s more about the experiences, time, and knowledge I can attain freely if money weren’t a factor. If I achieved these heights, I can also make a bigger, lasting impact on the world.

It sounds like I’m aiming absurdly high, but in my opinion, having big aspirations opens up my life and removes restrictions I place on myself. I’m also quite action and goal oriented so I plan to follow through as much as I can. If I don’t achieve all of my dreams, at least I’ll be a lot better off than if I aimed smaller.

In terms of financial freedom, I think I would categorize it as such:

• Level 1: Income covers expenses but not much more. Small nest egg/net worth
• Level 2: Income covers expenses and more. Lets you save a bit. Medium nest egg/net worth
• Level 3: Income covers expenses by a long shot. Large nest egg/net worth

I think the way I’m going to get to level 3 financial freedom is by creating and mastering the things I’m passionate about/am interested in. Currently, the main things I’m focusing on are real estate investment, marketing, and building up my “brand”. My steps will be #1 Continue the Miracle Morning challenge (for personal growth) #2. Stop giving a fuck what other people think and start taking actions in line with my purpose #3 Surround myself with people who I think are awesome & respect and build me up #4. Practice discipline and persistence.

We’ll see how it all goes. This Miracle Morning challenge has become instrumental in my growth, and I’m loving the book (if you want to check it out, you can do so here)!