Have you ever felt trapped in a stressful routine, with no time to do what you truly enjoy, and no prospect of change? Have you ever wondered if there’s more to life than working, paying bills, and accumulating stuff? Have you ever dreamed of having more freedom, happiness, and personal fulfillment?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, then this article is for you. Here, you’ll discover how to break free from the rat race, a term used to describe the situation of those who live to work, rather than work to live. You’ll learn how to embark on an inner journey toward absolute satisfaction, using the power of your mind, your emotions, and your spirit.
But first, let’s understand what the rat race is, and why it’s so harmful to your health, well-being, and happiness.
The term “Rat Race” reflects the comparison between the frenetic daily life of people and laboratory rat experiments, where the latter navigate predetermined paths, illustrating human existence marked by safety and predictability, passed down from generation to generation. This dynamic is characterized by a cycle that, while offering stability, ultimately limits the individual, preventing them from reaching new heights in various aspects of life, such as career, finances, and social relationships.
Robert Kiyosaki’s book, “Rich Dad Poor Dad,” a milestone in the financial world, presents this analogy in an intimate and personal way. The work discusses the perception of work as a daily trap in the modern era, prompting reflection on people’s attitudes towards their careers and the search for a better balance between personal and professional aspects. The narrative addresses how the lengthy workday, including unpaid overtime, work-related stress, and time spent commuting contribute to overall dissatisfaction, depriving society of enjoying the fruits of prosperity.
Kiyosaki proposes a break from traditional paradigms – the pursuit of the ideal study, perfect career, marriage, homeownership, raising children, retirement security, among others – that make up the relentless quest for stability and wealth, transmitted unquestioningly from parents to children. This mindset leads people to spend most of their lives working to support the obligations resulting from these imposed goals since youth, resembling the rodents running on their wheels without making progress, in an exhaustive cycle that consumes energy without producing significant outcomes.
Representative illustrative photos showing how our society lives like rats slaves to an endless system.
About 95% of people are caught in this maze, following a path from school to university, from graduation to formal employment, culminating in a sequence of financial obligations that only reinforce the tie with banks, governments, and employers, in a seemingly inescapable cycle. This cyclical perspective, essentially characterized by accumulating work for little prosperity, is viewed negatively. Each new step demands even more effort to maintain the associated costs, in a process that seems to lead nowhere significant, gradually reducing personal satisfaction.
The book highlights that the true “rich” focus on acquiring assets, such as properties, company shares, and investments, which provide continuous income, in contrast to the “poor,” who invest their efforts in acquiring liabilities, generating debts. Escaping this cycle requires not just a financial change but also a lifestyle change, encouraging the search for new income sources and a new view on money and existence itself. Thus, escaping the daily maze means leaving behind a predictable path in favor of a life with more freedom and possibilities.
Representative illustrative photos showing how our society lives like rats slaves to an endless system.
But how could I free myself from this system? A problem with living too long in the rat race is that we create our own shackles, as we go into debt to acquire goods we think are important and then regret. Even our lifestyle, which includes fixed bills that already commit our income, makes us continue slaves to this endless cycle, seemingly locking indestructible bars around our lives. But all of this can be reversed with some effort, nothing too difficult.
Representative illustrative photos showing how our society lives like rats slaves to an endless system.
First, we must focus on our financial education. Knowing where our money comes from and where it goes is enough to allow us to see a chance for freedom. Second, we must build passive income streams. Passive income will enable us to slow down our dependence on the system that imprisons many today. And over time, it will free us completely from the need to remain in the cycle of work – pay – get into debt – work – pay, and so on! Start looking for ways to free yourself from the rat race and teach future generations not to get lost in this cycle, then you will have a fuller life in a better and more balanced society!
The rat race is a lifestyle that consumes your energy, creativity, health, and joy. It prevents you from enjoying the present moment, expressing your true self, cultivating meaningful relationships, contributing to the world, and achieving your dreams. It keeps you in a state of fear, anxiety, frustration, and unhappiness.
But the good news is that you can escape the rat race and start an inner journey toward absolute satisfaction. You can create a life aligned with your values, purposes, talents, and passions. You can experience more peace, love, gratitude, and joy. You can be free, happy, and fulfilled.
This is what you will discover in the next steps.
Step 1: Acknowledge that you are in the rat race, and decide to leave it
The first step to freeing yourself from the rat race is to recognize that you are in it, and that it is not good for you. Often, people get used to the routine and do not realize how dissatisfied, stressed, and unhappy they are. They think it’s normal to live this way and that there’s no other option.
But there is. You can choose a different life, one that makes sense to you, that inspires you, that motivates you, that challenges you, that rewards you, that completes you. You can choose a life that fits you, not others.
To do this, you need to make a conscious decision to leave the rat race and commit to this change. You need to have the courage to break away from what is expected of you and follow what is important to you. You need to be willing to face the challenges, fears, uncertainties, and resistances that will arise along the way. You need to have faith that everything will work out and that you will find your place in the world.
Step 2: Discover who you are, what you want, and what makes you happy
The second step to freeing yourself from the rat race is to find out who you are, what you want, and what makes you happy. Often, people lose touch with themselves and no longer know what is essential, what is true, what is authentic. They let society, family, friends, media, or the market dictate to them. They conform to standards, expectations, conventions, trends. They forget their dreams, desires, values, purposes.
But to escape the rat race, you need to reconnect with your essence, your soul, your heart. You need to know yourself better, accept yourself better, love yourself better. You need to find out what drives you, what excites you, what fulfills you. You need to define what success, happiness, and satisfaction mean to you, not to others.
To do this, you can ask yourself some questions, such as:
- What are my qualities, my flaws, my strengths, my weaknesses?
- What are my values, my principles, my beliefs, my convictions?
- What are my interests, my hobbies, my passions, my vocations?
- What are my goals, my projects, my plans, my dreams?
- What are my needs, my desires, my preferences, my choices?
- What are my emotions, my feelings, my sensations, my intuitions?
- What are my inspirations, my references, my influences, my admirations?
You can write down your answers on paper, in a notebook, on a computer, or anywhere else convenient for you. The important thing is that you are honest, sincere, and deep in your reflections. Don’t be afraid to expose yourself, to reveal yourself, to surprise yourself. Don’t limit yourself, don’t judge yourself, don’t criticize yourself. Don’t worry about what others will think, say, or do. Just listen to yourself, understand yourself, respect yourself.
Step 3: Create a clear, positive, and motivating vision of your ideal life
The third step to freeing yourself from the rat race is to create a clear, positive, and motivating vision of your ideal life. A vision is a mental image of what you want to achieve, who you want to be, what you want to have, and what you want to do. It represents your desired future, your aimed destination, your realized potential. A vision is a source of inspiration, guidance, motivation, and action.
To create your vision, you need to use your imagination, creativity, and intention. You need to visualize your ideal life in all aspects, such as:
Health: How do you want to be physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually? What healthy habits do you want to adopt? What physical activities do you want to engage in? What foods do you want to consume? What therapies do you want to undergo? What emotions do you want to feel? What thoughts do you want to nurture? What values do you want to express?
Relationships: How do you want to relate to the people in your life? Who do you want by your side? Who do you want to distance yourself from? Who do you want to meet? Who do you want to help? Who do you want to thank? Who do you want to forgive? Who do you need to ask for forgiveness?
Work: How and with what do you want to work? What are your skills, talents, passions, and vocations? What are your goals, projects, plans, and dreams? What are your values, principles, beliefs, and convictions? Who are your inspirations, references, influences, and admirations? What are your challenges, difficulties, opportunities, and solutions?
Finances: How do you want to manage your money, and how much money do you want to have? What are your sources of income, your expenses, your investments, and your savings? What are your needs, desires, preferences, and choices? What are your dreams, projects, plans, and objectives? What are your values, principles, beliefs, and convictions? Who are your inspirations, references, influences, and admirations?
Leisure: How do you want to enjoy your free time, and what do you want to do with it? What are your favorite activities, hobbies, passions, and vocations? What are your favorite places, destinations, travels, and adventures? Who are your loved ones, friends, family members, and partners? What are your emotions, feelings, pleasures, and joys?
You can create your vision using different methods, such as:
Write a text, a letter, a diary entry, a poem, a story, or any other literary genre that pleases you. Create a drawing, a painting, a collage, a sculpture, or any other form of art that expresses you. Record an audio, a video, a piece of music, a song, or any other sound form that communicates for you. Assemble a board, a mural, a map, a chart, or any other form of imagery that illustrates you. The important thing is that you use your creativity, your originality, your personality.
Don’t worry about quality, perfection, or beauty.
Don’t compare yourself, don’t criticize yourself, don’t judge yourself.
Don’t limit yourself, don’t censor yourself, don’t repress yourself.
Just express yourself, have fun, be moved.
Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
Step 4: Set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound goals to realize your vision
The fourth step to freeing yourself from the rat race is to set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals to realize your vision. Goals are the steps you need to take to reach your destination, to make your dream a reality, to materialize your desire. Goals are the milestones you need to achieve to measure your progress, to evaluate your performance, to celebrate your success. Goals are the challenges you need to overcome to grow, to learn, to evolve.
To set your goals, you need to use the SMART criteria, which means:
Specific: Your goals should be clear, precise, detailed, and not vague, generic, ambiguous. You should know exactly what you want, not just have a general idea. For example, instead of saying “I want to lose weight”, say “I want to lose 10 kilograms”.
Measurable: Your goals should be quantifiable, verifiable, comparable, and not subjective, intangible, imprecise. You should know how to measure your result, not just feel its effect. For example, instead of saying “I want to be happier”, say “I want to increase my satisfaction level from 6 to 8 on a scale of 10”.
Achievable: Your goals should be realistic, possible, feasible, and not utopian, impossible, unattainable. You should know if you have the resources, skills, and motivation necessary to achieve your objective, not just wish for your success. For example, instead of saying “I want to be an astronaut”, say “I want to take an astronomy course”.
Relevant: Your goals should be important, meaningful, valuable, and not trivial, irrelevant, unnecessary. You should know why you want to achieve your goal, not just what you want to achieve. For example, instead of saying “I want to buy a new car”, say “I want to buy a new car to facilitate my transport and save time”.
Time-bound: Your goals should have a deadline, a date, a frequency, and not be indefinite, unlimited, undetermined. You should know when you want to achieve your goal, not just how you want to achieve it. For example, instead of saying “I want to learn English”, say “I want to learn English in 6 months”.
You can write down your goals on paper, in a notebook, on a computer, or anywhere else convenient for you. The important thing is that you are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound in your definitions. Don’t be afraid to challenge yourself, to commit, to take responsibility. Don’t settle, don’t get discouraged, don’t give up. Don’t get distracted, don’t procrastinate, don’t sabotage yourself. Just plan, organize, and execute.
Step 5: Create a detailed, structured, and flexible action plan to meet your goals
The fifth step to freeing yourself from the rat race is to create a detailed, structured, and flexible action plan to meet your goals. An action plan is a list of tasks you need to perform to achieve your goal, realize your dream, and materialize your desire. It’s a sequence of steps you need to follow to reach your destination, materialize your project, and execute your plan. An action plan is a tool for organization, control, adaptation, and improvement.
To create your action plan, you should use the PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act) technique, which means:
Plan: Define what you’re going to do, how you’re going to do it, when you’re going to do it, where you’re going to do it, with whom you’re going to do it, and why you’re going to do it. Establish your success criteria, performance indicators, necessary resources, potential risks, and contingency strategies. Draw up a timeline, budget, scope, and roadmap for your project.
Do: Put into practice what you planned, following your instructions, guidelines, and recommendations. Complete your tasks, activities, and actions according to your plan. Monitor your progress, performance, and results according to your indicators. Record your data, evidence, and information according to your criteria.
Check: Analyze what you executed by comparing what you did with what you planned, what you achieved with what you expected, and what you spent with what you budgeted. Evaluate your success, failure, learning, and feedback. Identify your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Recognize your correct decisions, mistakes, improvements, and corrections.
Act: Take action based on your findings, implementing necessary changes, improvements, corrections, and adaptations. Adjust your plan, timeline, budget, and scope according to your results. Communicate your changes, decisions, and actions to those involved. Restart the cycle by planning, doing, checking, and acting again until you achieve your goal.
You can create your action plan using different tools, such as:
A spreadsheet, software, app, or any other digital recording form that allows you to organize, control, and update your information.
A board, paper, poster, or any other visual recording form that allows you to visualize, track, and share your information.
An agenda, calendar, clock, or any other temporal recording form that allows you to schedule, remember, and fulfill your commitments. The important thing is to use a tool that is useful, practical, easy, and accessible to you. Don’t worry about complexity, sophistication, or technology. Don’t get lost, confused, or troubled. Don’t forget, omit, or deceive yourself. Just register, control, and adapt.
Representative illustrative photos showing how our society lives like rats slaves to an endless system.
Step 6: Execute your action plan with discipline, persistence, and flexibility
The sixth step to freeing yourself from the rat race is to execute your action plan with discipline, persistence, and flexibility. Discipline is the ability to follow your rules, commitments, and schedules, even when you don’t feel like it, are disheartened, or lack motivation. Persistence is the ability to keep trying, searching, and fighting, even when you encounter obstacles, difficulties, and problems. Flexibility is the ability to adapt, modify, and transform, even when you face changes, unforeseen events, and surprises.
To execute your action plan, you need to use some techniques, such as:
- Make a list of priorities and start with the most important, urgent, and difficult tasks, leaving the less important, less urgent, and easier ones for later.
- Make a list of rewards and reward yourself after completing each task, achieving each goal, and realizing each objective, with something that brings you pleasure, satisfaction, and joy.
- Make a list of supports and count on the help, encouragement, and support of people who understand, respect, and support you, such as friends, family, colleagues, mentors, coaches, etc.
- Make a list of reminders and motivate yourself every day, every hour, every minute, with phrases, images, music, videos, or anything else that inspires, guides, motivates, and drives you.
The important thing is to use techniques that are effective, suitable, convenient, and enjoyable for you. Don’t force yourself, don’t torture yourself, don’t mistreat yourself. Don’t deviate, don’t get distracted, don’t demotivate yourself. Don’t close off, don’t isolate, don’t exclude yourself. Just follow through, reward yourself, support yourself, and motivate yourself.
Step 7: Celebrate your achievements, be thankful for your opportunities, and share your experiences
The seventh and final step to freeing yourself from the rat race is to celebrate your achievements, be thankful for your opportunities, and share your experiences. Celebrating means recognizing your value, merit, effort, work, and results. Being thankful means recognizing your privilege, luck, grace, blessings, and gifts. Sharing means recognizing your role, contribution, influence, inspiration, and mission.
To celebrate, be thankful, and share, you need to adopt some attitudes, such as:
- Organize a party, event, celebration, or any other form of celebration that makes you happy, proud, and fulfilled. Invite people who supported, helped, accompanied, and celebrated you, and celebrate with them.
- Engage in prayer, meditation, reflection, or any other form of gratitude that makes you feel grateful, humble, and blessed. Thank your God, the universe, life, or any other higher force that guides, protects, enlightens, and thanks you.
- Participate in donations, volunteering, teaching, or any other form of sharing that makes you feel useful, generous, and significant. Share your knowledge, experience, wisdom, and inspiration with people who need, want, seek, and share.
The important thing is that you adopt attitudes that are sincere, natural, spontaneous, and authentic.
Don’t boast, show off, or envy. Don’t forget, deny, or belittle yourself. Don’t hold back, deprive, or limit yourself. Just celebrate, be thankful, and share.
