My mom grew up poor. She used education to rise above her circumstances. My dad didn't go to college, he used street smarts to rise above his circumstances. Growing up in the Philippines, I had zero clue what it felt like to live in financial abundance. In reality, we were living below the global poverty line but my parents made it work.

My parents had bigger dreams though; for them and for us. They wanted to do more than just make it work.

Since the US colonization of the Philippines in 1898, there's been an influx of Filipino nurses into the US. After WWII, it became more clear that US citizens weren't keen on becoming nurses so the government needed to fill that need. They created a few immigration programs to recruit more nurses in the next 50+ years and Filipinos dominated the supply that Americans weren't willing to fulfill.

My mom saw this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to improve the livelihood of her family. This was the path to a better life. She found a visa-sponsorship program, studied her ass off to get accepted and immigrated to the US in 1994. She left us for almost a year and she arrived to the US with only $100 in her pocket.

One. Hundred. Dollars.

Can you imagine only having $100 to your name?

This is the backdrop of my relationship to money. We grew up from nothing. We lived in tiny houses in the Philippines. And in a matter of one year, all sorts of new possibilities existed to create more wealth. To have access to more.

For as long as I can remember, I've wanted more.

More clothes.

More shoes.

More vacations.

More money to fund all these experiences.

In this pursuit of wanting more money, I discovered that there are three essential levels to the money-making path. The first level is simply to make money. To make as much money as possible through your job. The job you had equated to how much money you would make. The second level is managing the money. It's essentially spending less money than the income you receive. The third level is what most would consider as financial freedom. It's wealth. It's f**k-you-money. It's when your money works for you. This is the level I'm playing in now.

Growing up from nothing, I thought the first level was essentially it. You work, you make money, you have retirement, you buy things, and that's it. That's the dream. But when I went to a college of predominantly white affluent families, I discovered that there was more money to make and a way to make it work for you. There's another lifestyle you could have in this level and I wanted all of it. Who wouldn't?

Now, this is where it gets tricky and complex. At least for me it did. The reality is if we start to play this game of financial freedom, we soon realize that we all have vastly different starting lines. I was in a fraternity during college and my bros would spend a year's worth of work study money in one week during our spring breaks. When I started my professional career, some of my colleagues would be able to spend more money on networking dinners than what I made in one day. That gave my counterparts an advantage I did not readily have. And this kept happening during my career. I always felt like I was ten steps behind because of how much money I didn't have. At first, I was bitter about it. I played the victim. I made others my enemy because of it. Needless to say, I was only hurting myself.

I had to accept the reality I was in and be okay with it. That's how it is. It's not others' fault that they were born in the circumstances they were in, just like it's not my fault I was born with my reality. Thankfully, I got out of that victim mindset. Got coached and stepped into a winning one. One where I can be more creative and free in my pursuit of financial freedom.

If I am to keep playing this game of financial freedom, the first thing to acknowledge is that it's essentially a game to begin with. That's how it would loosen up. That's how it would become more fun and freeing.

The second is redefining my vision of financial freedom. For me, there's a distinction between a vision and a goal. A vision is a place to come from; a goal is a place to get to. So if a vision is a place to come from, then financial freedom is something I can step into TODAY. It's not something I need to wait for until I've achieved my goal. It's a way of being I can have TODAY.

When I envision myself reaching that financial goal, I feel free. I feel expansive. I feel full of joy with a gratitude as deep as the ocean. I feel at peace. I feel a bountiful love that I am humbled to be a recipient of. I feel honored to be trusted with that kind of wealth. And all I want to do is give more of it back.

I sit with that financial freedom vision and bring it back to the present.

I remember that freedom is our birthright. It's available to us today, moment by moment.

Joy, peace and love can be created today. We don't need to wait for it.

We can be generous TODAY. We can be grateful TODAY.

I'm not perfect. Some days, I honestly feel sad that I don't have the wealth that I want yet. I'm human and that's okay. Part of the human experience is sitting in the depth of that sadness and being okay with it. If I catch myself, I won't try to escape that sadness, or avoid it, or white knuckle the next task in order to get to the next milestone of my financial portfolio. I be with the depth of that sadness.

And on the other side, I feel myself anchoring deeper into that true financial freedom vision I have. Creativity suddenly starts to flow through me. I realize that there are a myriad of ways to achieve this goal. And it doesn't have to happen today. I have a deep conviction that it will happen and it's just a matter of time. Somehow, I find myself less attached to that financial portfolio goal while being more committed to achieving it at the same time. A paradox, I know. It's hard to wrap my mind around paradoxes sometimes, but I love it.

What goals do you have?

What is the vision behind that goal?

What might happen if you took time this week to create meaningful distinctions between your vision and goals?

What if your vision became a place to come from? And your goals became places to get to?

What might loosen up?

How might the journey become more freeing? More fun?

Sit with these questions and I'd love to hear the insights you get if you do.

Fiercely loving you,

Jomar

Photo by DESIGNECOLOGIST on Unsplash

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