Most people want to create autonomy in their life, but few know exactly what it really means and implies in practice.

I was no exception to this, and when I became aware of it, I started to spend some serious time thinking about how to fulfill my earnest desire to create autonomy.

Difference between autonomy and independence

At first, I realized there was a subtle but definite difference between autonomy and independence…

For example, John has $10 million on his bank account, inherited from an old aunt, and his lifestyle makes him spend $50,000 per year…He’s financially independent.

By contrast, Nancy only has $1,000 on her bank account, but she has the intention, the ability and the attitude to create several sources of income whose sum equals or exceeds what her lifestyle makes her spend in a year…She is financially autonomous.

So, if you had to choose between John’s financial independence and Nancy’s financial autonomy, what would you choose? If you are like me, you would intuitively choose to create autonomy as Nancy’ has, won’t you? Autonomy feels indeed stronger than independence, but why? Well, if John fails to learn how to manage his new financial situation, he will sooner or later lose his financial independence.

By contrast, if Nancy had ever the desire to become financially independent, she would already have the skills to achieve her goal. She has learned to create autonomy.

Seen otherwise, independence is merely a state of fact linked to circumstances, whereas autonomy is much more a state of being linked to character.

The three conditions needed to create autonomy

So what does it take to acquire or create autonomy in any realm of our life and then maintain it?

• I found three mandatory conditions for this:
• acquiring the right knowledge about that realm,
• developing the right skills,
• and finding the right resources.

Once we have all that and start to create autonomy in our chosen domain, we must continue to work steadily in order to maintain it and to make it grow.

For example, let us see how it works for our health.

Suppose that John believes the commonly accepted doctrine that good health is the absence of illnesses.

In the short term, it may look sufficient, however if he spends his week days working from 9 to 5 in front of a computer, watching TV while eating potato chips in the evenings, and drinking beers with friends during the week-ends, pretending he is in good health because he doesn’t feel any pain in his body, well…you know how it will eventually end ☹

When his body will surrender and send him some painful signals that it is time to change, poor John will have no other choice than to go to an allopathic doctor – only trained to diagnose and treat illnesses – who will prescribe him some chemical drugs to cure his pain… Strictly nothing relevant to the notion of good health in this worst case scenario! So what is John supposed to do to create autonomy regarding his health?

First of all, he could acquire some basic knowledge about health in general, the first condition to create autonomy. For his health in particular: what is his own specific definition of “good health”? What are the different types of health (physical, mental, spiritual) and how are they interacting with each other?

How is his lifestyle (eating, drinking, breathing, moving, sleeping, thinking, speaking, reading, listening, watching, relating,…) affecting his health? What are more natural approaches to good health than the allopathic medicine that would best fit his personality and beliefs (Chinese medicine, Ayurveda, homeopathy, acupuncture, naturopathy, osteopathy, physician, etc., etc.)? Remember, acquiring the right knowledge is key in helping you to create autonomy.

Next, he could seriously think about the resources he is supposed to invest in and find in order to stay in good health, the second condition to help you create autonomy:

• – How much time does he need to keep his body, mind and soul in good shape?
• – How much money should he invest to acquire the knowledge and the skills to take care of his health (eg. investing in learning and setting up a workout program, taking the MKMMA training, etc.)?
• – Which mentors and helpers could he surround himself with to bring him the knowledge, skills and experience which are out of his reach, eg. an Ayurvedic doctor, a naturopath, a gym coach, a professional cook, a yoga teacher, a spiritual mentor, etc., etc.?

And finally, he could start readily to practice the skills he has identified as important to maintain and improve his health, the last condition to create autonomy. For example, setting up a daily workout routine; selecting, preparing and eating healthy food; selecting and reading great books about physical/mental/spiritual health; practicing a permanent mental diet; practicing the MKMMA (Master Key MasterMind Alliance) exercises with concentration and faith; sitting (or meditating) daily, etc., etc.

You got the idea!

In conclusion

Becoming really autonomous in the realm of health is all but a ‘five minutes’ task, and so it is for any other domain of life.

The good news is that once we know the required activities underlying how to create autonomy, we can easily repeat it and even make it a way of life.

In summary these activities to create autonomy are threefold:

• – Acquiring the necessary knowledge about the chosen domain: what do I need to know about it, so that I can decide what are the right things to do and find out the appropriate resources?
• – Developing the right skills, so I can do the things I need to do right 😊
• – Finding the right resources in terms of time, money and relationships, so that I always have the practical means to maintain and grow my autonomy.

Once you master these three recurrent activities, you become autonomous in the creation of your autonomy in all areas of your life…

Of course needless to say, if you have Autonomy as one of your PPN’s, creating autonomy is going to be a lifelong endeavor! 😊

Need some hands-on help and support in figuring out YOUR PPNs, or ways to create autonomy in your life, click here to get on the list for a $1 scholarship application to the next session the Master Key Experience and you’ll get it!