The conversation that made him realise how close freedom really was

I had a conversation recently with an old friend that I wanted to share.

He's a sharp, talented guy based in England. He knows the country is circling the drain. He regularly tells me he knows he needs to leave and at least experiment with living in other places.

But he feels trapped. He hasn't left in the several years he started mentioning it.

He has skills and money.

But he can't leave because of what his friends and family might think.

He has this fear of stepping into the unknown without the comfort of the web of approval and connection wrapped around him.

Bits and pieces I hear from him include:

'What if I fail? What if they think I'm reckless or abandoning them? What if I end up alone?'

I had those exact thoughts when I left London years ago.

I told him that the feeling that you're letting people down is the prison. That's the thing holding you back from being your best.

Then I told him something that made him stop, and his eyes got sparkly.

What the world needs, what your family and friends actually need, is for you to be energised.

They may not say it, but we need you to be free, happy, and alive.

Think about that. You can always visit. You can stay connected via Zoom. They have these cool things called planes.

But you can't live their life and expect to feel alive in yours.

This is the core issue underneath almost every 'I can't do this' moment. It's not about your capability. It's about the silent terror of other people's opinions.

That terror isn't even about those other people. It's about a belief we've all been conditioned to accept: that other people have the power to lower our self-worth.

We get judged, and we think our self-esteem takes a hit.

But what if that's not true?

What if your self-esteem, your worth, your sense of okayness isn't actually something that can be taken from you?

Freedom isn't about geography. It's about psychology.

You can move to Bali or Budapest, but if you're still carrying the weight of imagined judgement, you're still stuck.

There are many who take steps to do what they truly want rather than live their lives according to what others want. And they're totally happy and energised for it.

These people are not necessarily more clever or more brave than you.

They've just learned to stop believing that other people's opinions have power over them.

Because they don't. They never did.

And when you see this for what it is, you may just see what I saw, all those years ago:

What those who genuinely love you want most from you is for you to be free.

That's when you stand to be the most resourceful and supportive.

Understanding this changes everything.

This week only, I'm running a celebration sale on Let Go of the S#it That Weakens You course at $79 (usually $197).

And autumn feels like the right time for it. The old you can fall away with the leaves.

This course guides you through fifteen steps to rewire how you see yourself in relation to others. It's like nothing else out there because we focus directly on breaking down thought patterns at the core of the issue, so the effect is instant.

This won't be at this price again until 2026.

Get instant access here.

Alex