Free Gulliver: Six Swift Lessons in Life Planning

For Tripp Friedler, Hurricane Katrina was both an ironic blow and a validation of his beliefs. His career is based on convincing people that they really can gain control over their own lives. And just as things were going great for him--he was preparing to launch his new book about life planning--bam! Mother Nature knocks his home, his business, and his life off their foundations. (See the irony?) Now, less than two months later, he's upbeat and insistent on getting his life together again. (And there's the validation!)

"Interestingly, what happened to me bears a resemblance to what befell the literary Gulliver," says Friedler, a New Orleans resident and author of Free Gulliver: Six Swift Lessons in Life Planning

(Trost Publishing, 2005, ISBN: 1-933205-00-8, $19.95). "Katrina was the shipwreck of all shipwrecks, you know? And I'm not saying I've got it all together yet, that I'm 'free' yet. But I'm getting there, I'm figuring out where I am now and where I want to go from here, and so are thousands of other people. So even though I knew the Free Gulliver message works, this has been yet another piece of very dramatic evidence."

Friedler is the president and CEO of Free Gulliver. This life planning firm offers seasoned advice on money and all the issues that come with it. It has an unusual focus: helping clients ensure that their lifestyle doesn't tie them down, but rather centers on a relentless pursuit of their true passions. When people ask what he and his firm do, Friedler always responds, "We free Gullivers." The reference, of course, is to the protagonist of Jonathan Swift's classic Gulliver's Travels.

Make no mistake: Friedler is not your typical buttoned-down financial planner. He cares deeply about his clients' happiness. He's hip and quirky. (Check out his website, freegulliver.com, and you'll see.) He's refreshingly honest and enjoys deflecting meaningless niceties with his unique brand of humor. (For instance, when people try to end a phone call with the clichéd phrase "Well, I'll let you go," Friedler likes to throw them for a loop with a puzzled: "But I don't have to go.")

In case you need a refresher on Swift's tale, Gulliver was a doctor who couldn't make any money on land so he decided to ply his trade on the sea. When his ship was wrecked, he woke up on a beach tied down by hundreds of tiny strings. The strings belonged to a group of equally tiny people--the Lilliputians--who shot Gulliver with little poisonous arrows when he tried to escape. So, not wanting to deal with the pain, he allowed himself to be tied back down for a while before he was ultimately freed.

Friedler likens his clients to the beleaguered Gulliver, tied down by a lot of tiny strings: an unfulfilling career, a difficult boss, financial instability, too much credit card debt, too many social commitments. You name it. Separately, each string would be powerless, but together, they make up a formidable restraint system. The goal is to free his clients--whom he calls "Gullivers"--to discover and embrace their dreams.

How does he do it? Well, his book reveals the formula, but basically he walks people through the process of slicing through the problems that are keeping them from doing what they know in their heart they were put on Earth to do . . . and helps them move toward a life they can truly love. A few of his insights:

• Freeing Gulliver really isn't that hard.

We just think it's hard. But focus and clarity are the keys, and they're not necessarily easy to achieve. Remember, Gulliver quit fighting the Lilliputians because their tiny darts were causing him pain. But when you realize the temporary pain of change is much less painful than the permanent pain of living in bondage, you'll realize getting clear and focused is worth it. "Change is scary, but I think it's the anticipation that's the worst," says Friedler. "Once you've made the leap across the chasm, you kind
of look back and realize the leap wasn't nearly as big as you thought it was. And if you're like most people, you'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner."

• Don't be afraid to take an unflinching look at your location.

Your location is where you are right now, the good, the bad, and the ugly of your current life situation. Looking at it may be frightening but it's absolutely necessary. Indeed, Friedler credits his willingness to quickly accept the unvarnished reality of his post-Katrina life as the key to his quick recovery. "Denial is the force that keeps people in limbo for many years," he says. "I have found that most people don't want to know their location. They are afraid that they'll discover they don't have what it takes to buy that new house or change careers or whatever. But discovering their location actually reveals what they have to do in order to achieve that dream. It's nothing less than a paradigm shift in your thinking."

• Free your passion and your passion will free you (Gulliver).

Of course, passion alone won't get you anywhere; it's just a third of what Friedler calls the "three legged stool," which also encompasses location and vision. But it's the rocket fuel that takes you where you want to go. "We all naturally have passion for something," says Friedler. "Question is, are we putting it in the driver's seat or keeping it locked in the trunk? It's not my job to create passion in my clients, but I do help them access it and direct it. People are usually surprised to find they really do have the passion to reach what they want. I mean, they have the passion it would take to go one mile, and they think they're six miles away. I show them they're really only half a mile away--they have more than enough fuel."

Friedler says he has spent a lot of time lately reflecting on the upheaval Katrina has caused so many people. His conclusion? In a bizarre way, major disasters make it easier for some people to free their Gulliver. After all, when you're starting from scratch, you have nothing to lose by "going for it" in a big way. It's those who are basically comfortable, if slightly bored, who have the most trouble breaking free from their bonds.

"If your life is less than what you want it to be, resist the temptation to say, 'I can live with all these little strings,'" says Friedler. "Break those strings and jump up and chase your dreams. Life is too short, and too potentially rich and fulfilling, not to. When you're on your deathbed, your biggest regrets will center on the risks you didn't take, not the ones you did."

Six Lessons That Will Help You Free Your Gulliver

1. Vision.
Do you have a vision of your life? A clear motivating idea of what you want your life to look like? Think of your vision as a guiding light on your path to success. The definition of success here is completely relative. Success for me may mean raising a happy, healthy family, but your success may have more to do with running a profitable restaurant. Your vision should be based on who you are, on your passions and potential. Think big. You can never be greater than the vision that guides you.

2. Location.
Do you have a comprehensive understanding of your current situation? Most people take this for granted, but nothing could be more important. Do you know where you are starting from? To successfully plan a course to where you want to be, you must first know your current location. Before beginning any journey, you need to know your point of departure. Try booking a flight without telling the airline your city of departure. It cannot be done.

3. Passion.
Passion is not something you can control--it controls you. It is the energy that will propel you in your quest toward your vision. It is your fuel. Are you climbing your own metaphorical Mount Everest because you love the challenge? Are you inspired by those who went before? Or are you most interested in telling people how rich, how tough, how adventurous you are? You'll regret it if you get to the top only to realize you climbed the wrong mountain.

4. Legacy.
Chances are, in your mind, your end game has more to do with retirement than with your ultimate retirement: death. What a frightening word. Its mere vocalization makes us shiver. However, try as we might, no matter how much Botox we inject, death is inevitable. Remember to live your legacy, not leave it. What will they write about the story of your life? It is up to you and you might as well get started now.

5. Risk.
Risk is a word that means different things to different people. What does it mean to you? You can minimize financial risk with diversification. You can minimize life planning risks with clarity. If you're still afraid to take that toe out of the water and dive in, do not be. The worst that can happen is that you will fail. From this failure, you will grow.

6. Retirement.
Let's retire the notion of retirement. You never retire from a life that you love. You might be surprised and learn that you are closer than you think to living that life. Retirement doesn't have to be an all-or-nothing proposition. In fact, it shouldn't be. Your choice is clear: you can stay with a job you hate so you can save up enough to eventually quit, or you can start doing what you love now and just keep doing it. Chances are you will be having too much fun to retire.

About the Author:
Tripp Friedler is Gulliver. A born adventurer, he has weathered his share of storms, cut plenty of strings, and now helps others chart their own journeys. Interested in going back to school? Tripp has a law degree and is working on his second masters; he'll help you find the time. Want a career change? Tripp gave up records to manage a restaurant, sold a business to make more time for his wife and three children. As a Chartered Life Underwriter, a Chartered Financial Consultant, and an Accredited Estate Planner, he has studied the financial plans of over one thousand people and helped them create life plans to reach their goals.

About the Book:
Free Gulliver: Six Swift Lessons in Life Planning

(Trost Publishing, 2005, ISBN: 1-933205-00-8, $19.95) is available at bookstores nationwide and major online booksellers.

For more information, please visit freegulliver.com.