Extract from Bruce Elkin's Newsletter 5th May 2009

When people think of freedom, they often think about what they want to be free from: mortgages, dead end jobs, bossy superiors, bad habits, 20 ugly pounds, failing relationships, and other obligations and restrictions that they think limit them.

Their choices and actions are designed to get rid of, or get relief from those things. Sometimes, this stance is appropriate. But focusing just on freedom from puts them in the middle of problem-solving, flailing away with inadequate hammers. Being free from restraints, restrictions, and difficulties is not as important as freedom to....

Freedom to is harder to define. It involves the complex interaction of skills, knowledge, abilities, and tools that a person needs to actually do something. Without the ability to act -- to create what matters -- freedom from restrictions means little. Freedom to... is the version of freedom that the Oxford defines as, "the power of self-determination; independence of fate or necessity."

To see the difference between freedom from... and freedom to... imagine that you stand at the top of a high cliff. No walls, fences, guards, or other constraints prevent you from jumping. Standing there, you are free from restrictions. But, unless you're equipped with parasailing skill, experience, and equipment -- i.e. capacity -- you're not really free to jump (without killing yourself).

Freedom to comes from having a well-developed capacity -- the tools, skills, structure, and experience -- to successfully create what matters in all aspects of life, work, and relationships, independent of current events, circumstances, and adversity.

Moving from freedom from... to freedom to... is a matter of setting out what matters most, and then setting yourself firmly on the path toward creating it. Mastering the skills and structure of creating is an excellent way to increase both kinds of freedom. Doing so increases your capacity for self-determination. It increases you self-efficacy and sense of control. It helps you take ownership for the results you want to create. It increases your independence from fate and necessity. It also makes it much easier for you to get up, and stay up, in times such as we now face.

[Excerpted from the forthcoming ebook Staying Up In Down Times: Creating Resilience, Results, and Real Rewards --With Whatever Life Throws At You!]