Breaking Free

Today is an extremely special post. Something I will cherish in my heart for a long time. That is because this is the VERY FIRST POST ON THE ACTIVE FREEDOM NEWSLETTER!

I have been wanting to do this for a while, but I have doubted myself. I have worried about what others would think. I was worried that I wasn’t good enough. But no more.

Today I am breaking free, and I hope to inspire you to do the same thing.

In today’s issue:

• Welcome to Active Freedom

• The Freedom Manifesto

• Why This Matters Now

• The Journey Ahead

• One Simple Action to Take Today

Welcome to Active Freedom

First, thank you for being here.

By subscribing to this newsletter, you've taken a small but significant step toward questioning the conventional path and exploring what freedom might look like in your life.

I'm Justin, and like many of you, I've spent years feeling that disconnect between what society tells us success should look like and what actually brings fulfillment and autonomy.

After fighting for freedom in uniform, I came home to realize that true freedom in everyday life is something we have to intentionally create.

This newsletter is the beginning of that journey for all of us.

The Freedom Manifesto

I believe:

Freedom isn't reserved for retirement or vacations. It can and should be woven into the fabric of our daily lives.

Success without autonomy is just another form of constraint. A high-paying job that owns your time, energy, and attention isn't success. It's a well-decorated cage.

We've been sold a broken formula. Go to school, get in debt, work for decades building someone else's dream, retire when you're too old to fully enjoy life. This isn't the only way.

Small, intentional decisions compound over time. Freedom isn't created through one dramatic leap, but through consistent choices that prioritize autonomy over convention.

Freedom looks different for everyone. For some, it's location independence. For others, it's control over their schedule. For many, it's doing meaningful work with people they respect.

The tools and pathways already exist. Regular people are already creating lives with more freedom, and their blueprints are available to us.

Time is the ultimate currency. Not money, not status, not possessions. How freely you can spend your time is the truest measure of wealth.

This newsletter exists to explore these truths together.

Why This Matters Now

A typical 40-hour work week, 50 weeks a year results in approximately 2000 hours of work per year. Over a 40-year career, that's 80,000 hours of your life.

The average waking hours in a human lifespan (assuming 8 hours of sleep daily) is about 461,664 hours.

This means traditional work consumes 17% of your waking life—1 out of every 6 hours—and that's not counting commutes, overtime, or work stress that bleeds into your "free" time.

Meanwhile, we're living in an unprecedented era where technology, global connectivity, and evolving attitudes toward work have created more pathways to freedom than ever before.

The question isn't whether alternatives exist but whether we'll take advantage of them.

The Journey Ahead

Each week, this newsletter will be your guide to creating more freedom in your life, wherever you're starting from.

You'll receive:

Real Stories: Profiles of ordinary people who've created extraordinary freedom in their lives. Not internet celebrities or trust fund kids, but relatable individuals who've made intentional choices.

Practical Strategies: Actionable approaches you can implement without quitting your job tomorrow or taking unreasonable risks.

Reality Checks: Honest insights about the challenges of this path, because freedom isn't just about the highlight reel.

Mindset Shifts: New ways of thinking about work, time, money, and success that create the foundation for lasting change.

Some weeks might challenge your assumptions. Others might offer a new tool or perspective. All of them will be focused on one question: How can we create lives we don't need to escape from?

One Simple Action to Take Today

Freedom begins with awareness. Here's a quick exercise to start your journey:

Track how you spend tomorrow. Every hour, note what you did and whether it was:

1. Completely your choice

2. Partially your choice

3. Not your choice at all

Don't judge what you discover, just observe it. This baseline awareness is the first step toward creating change.

At the end of the day, ask yourself: "If this pattern continues for the next 5 years, will I be moving toward the freedom I want?"