He lived in a barrel by a river. He publicly masturbated and defecated. And at one point, he was kidnapped by pirates and sold into slavery. The homeless life may seem alluring for one drunk second, but we all want some degree of power over our environment. The danger is when we become too obsessed with controlling it.

“It is the privilege of the gods to want nothing, and of godlike men to want little.” — Diogenes

But as difficult and useful as it is to achieve financial freedom, it’s even more difficult and useful to achieve emotional freedom.

2 Tips for Financial & Emotional Freedom

What may help us achieve emotional freedom may also help us financial freedom…

Embrace Discomfort: Diogenes was a man who would walk barefoot in the snow or roll around in the hot sand. When people questioned his peculiar behavior he would say it was because he wished to harden himself against discomfort. Alexander the Great would also harden himself by matching the suffering of his troops. If they slept outside, he slept outside. If they went hungry, he went hungry. If they went into battle, he went to the front lines. If we embrace discomfort then we will be less of a slave to creature comforts. Eliminate Excess: Diogenes also believed that no one ought to have more things than they truly need. He had a bowl, but tossed that to the side when he saw a young boy cupping the river water with his hands. Diogenes greatest fear was that he would awaken one day to discover he lived in a palace while all those around him lived in barrels.

“He has the most who is most content with the least.” — Diogenes

The quicker we learn that the X marking the spot is not on some distant island, but instead, in our own hearts, the quicker we can start digging.

Freedom begins in the heart.

Empires begin in the mind.

“How should a man be capable of grooming his own horse, or of furbishing his own spear and helmet, if he allows himself to become unaccustomed to tending even his own person, which is his most treasured belonging?” — Alexander the Great

Legend has it that Diogenes and Alexander died on the same day, in 323 BC.

Legend also has it that Diogenes committed suicide by holding his breath after he decided his 89 year old body had deteriorated too much to let him keep his physical freedom.

On the 32 year old’s deathbed, Alexander said…

“My first desire is that my physicians alone must carry my coffin. Secondly, I desire that when my coffin is being carried to the grave, the path leading to the graveyard be strewn with gold, silver and precious stones which I have collected in my treasury. My third and last wish is that both my hands be kept dangling out of my coffin.”

The people who had gathered there wondered at the king’s strange wishes. But no one dare bring the question to their lips.