If you don’t have this one thing, the freedom you so desperately want will ruin you.

Can you imagine yourself having complete and utter freedom for a moment?

What would you do?

Really, think about it.

Play it all out.

Let’s say you’re out on your own, in a 3rd world country, sitting on a mountain top with no technology and no people to interact with. It’s just you and the nature you’re surrounded with. Complete and utter freedom to be yourself and do as you wish.

How long until that sense of freedom makes you feel lost?

See, freedom is typically one of the highest values for entrepreneurs—and it’s a great value to have. But the thing about freedom is it requires a certain level of clarity, a sense of courage, and strength in character.

And if you don’t have these three things you can’t handle freedom.

You will be like a bird that’s been caged for all its life.

When you open the door to free this caged bird, it won’t come out. It will continue thinking its freedom lies only within the bounds of the cage.

In a sense, it’s the same with the human condition.

We’re known as the most advanced species, and especially in the time we live in today, there are limitless opportunities available to us. But for whatever reason, many of us—although we want freedom—continue to behave in fixed ways.

Run an experiment.

When you’re alone and don’t have any obligations to meet, see how long you can stay with yourself without seeking a distraction.

Most people will feel a compulsive need to do something, and many will give in to that compulsion looking to ease the discomfort they feel within—not knowing that this discomfort they’re running from is the very sense of freedom itself.

That’s why freedom demands Discipline—and without it, freedom will ruin you.

I don’t often like to use the word discipline because the word itself has a negative connotation.

It brings about a feeling that doesn’t sit so well—like it’s a punishment for some sort of bad behavior.

So instead, I like to use the word, Skill.

Skill is what is required to handle freedom.

Without skill, it’s very unlikely to create a life where freedom can be experienced from a place of fulfillment.

The good thing is, skill is something that can be trained and something that can be improved upon.

And with the right view of the process, it’s actually fun and feels more like play than work.