A lot of people talk about “going against the grain” and “separating from the pack” and “doing things your own way”, but a very small amount of people act in a way that matches the concept of those phrases. Jonathan Mead sets himself apart passionately, pursuing and achieving freedom on various levels, and letting his audience know how they too can obtain freedom from cubicles or other societal chains. Through his self development articles on Illuminated Mind, and undoubtedly through his coaching, you can get a sense of the message he is sending to people. I see his rhetoric as a powerful tool to support the newly-modern way of attention and revenue being directed towards providers of value, in opposition to those who maintain age-old systems that don’t have the provision of value as a high priority.
Jonathan once pointed out that a common theme among what he promotes is “freedom”, and I would add that another item he promotes is “boldness”. Even if you read his material and are not as passionate about the same cause he is, his willingness to deviate from the standard path, regardless of the resistance present, will pass on to your own interest in the form of resilient passion. As far as a self-described biography of the man, Jonathan Mead is interested in creating a social movement of liberation, based on people living on their own terms. In his spare time he studies Jeet Kune Do and other ass-kicking strategies. He’s currently researching how to get paid to exist. The following is my interview with Jonathan:
Armen: What is the first step towards obtaining personal freedom, and what is one of the main factors keeping people from taking this step?
Jonathan: I think it really starts with a desire to move beyond your current self-limiting situation. Of course, you might not think it’s self-limiting at first. You’ll likely blame society, your parents, your church, or whatever. But ultimately it comes down to you making the choice to choose something different.
The biggest factor that keeps people from taking the step to choose something different is that they don’t accept that it’s their choice. It’s easier to blame others. It’s takes a lot of courage and inner strength to accept full responsibility for your life and where you are right now.
Jonathan's eBook
Armen: There is often a sense of heightened expectation, which is often unable to be completely satisfied, attached to the question “What do you do for a living?” I feel that it tends to only be beneficial when both parties are nearly at the same level in their career endeavors, and have the potential to exchange services. How do you feel about the value of the question, and do you see its use becoming less commonplace as more individuals pursue careers that don’t lend themselves to a “socially acceptable” response?
Jonathan: Yeah, I think a lot of us are really moving away from this question. The new question will be not “what do you do?” but “what are you all about?” — I think that’s a much greater personal question, so it will take others having the balls to ask people straight away. “What do you do?” is safe. “What are you all about?” requires that you actually have a real, meaningful response.
Armen: How do you respond to individuals who speak negatively the majority of the time, with lines like: “life is not going well”, “there is too much pressure on me”, or “there is no way out of my current routine”?
Jonathan: Well first of all, I don’t hang out with people like that. But when my blog readers or others come to me with a negative outlook, I try to help them change their state. Sometimes just asking the question “What is your plan for changing that?” helps people see a different possibility they were previously overlooking.
Armen: In relation to the substantial increase in the size of your audience, would you say it has caused you to speak more boldly, filter out more of what you say, or not change your writing style and expression much at all?
Jonathan: If anything, it has caused to be more centered in my voice, purpose and style. The growing readership of my blog has helped me find a community and a family of like-minded people. The more my blog grows the more I think Wow, there really are a lot of people out there just as unconventional and passionate about personal growth as me. Maybe I’m onto something here.
Armen: With the individuals you are assisting to obtain financial freedom through Project Mojave, what is one way that you help to maintain the continuity of their efforts in the face of distractions or possible burn-out?
Jonathan: I try to help them setup systems to keep them focused on the most important things in their life. There are certain high-leverage activities you can be doing that will have a dramatically positive impact on your life. These are things like continued learning, focused uninterrupted work, masterminding, mentorship, lifestyle habits, and etc. This where you want to focus the majority of your efforts, and I try to help guide them in making it a habit of doing so.
Ultimately the number one aim is helping them liberate themselves from their unwanted day jobs. So I teach people how to do stuff like create morning success rituals, change their beliefs about success and money, managing energy, and other awesome stuff. We’re having a lot of success stories (just into 6-8 weeks) so it seems to be working!
Concluding Notes
I can understand the kind of resistance that Jonathan has encountered up to this point. It is no small feat to obtain the position he is currently in, as all along the way, individuals certainly tried to get him to quit and go through the regular course of activities. You could say that he has taken years of potential future anguish, bundled it up into a small package, and blown right through it in a short period of time. This method reduces the likelihood of regret, and provides much knowledge in less time, as seen here. The following is a summary of the points discussed in the interview:
- The first step to obtaining personal freedom is to have a desire to move past your current situation, and to implement it, you have to accept that it is your own choice and the responsibility becomes all yours
- It is becoming more relevant to ask people what they are about, instead of what they do, as people leave repetitive employments on their path to a specific venture they can provide much more value with
- Don’t even bother with routinely negative individuals, and if you do want to help, try to lead them to results through their pro-activity
- As you find your audience, you find individuals that are looking for and can benefit from what you have to say, and this helps direct and center your voice
- You can help maintain the continued stability of your efforts by working on highly effective tasks related to them that provide a positive foundation, which makes it easy to continue
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