Moving abroad can only help.

So many people tell me that they really want to do something big and exciting - move to Paris for a year, learn Japanese, relocate their family to Australia, or retire in Costa Rica. What holds them back? What is holding you back?

If you’re like so many people, it might be the fear that moving abroad is a crazy idea and a huge mistake that you can never take back. I mean, you would have to quit your job, sell your house, basically give up everything to move abroad… and then what if you hate it? It’s a nice dream for some, but maybe it’s just too hard for you, am I right?

NO! Don’t listen to that part of yourself!!!

There are SO many reasons why that narrative is completely false, but let’s just focus on the positive right now. Moving abroad might just possibly be the best thing you’ll do for yourself.

The bigger the risk, the bigger the reward

If the dream of moving abroad is already percolating inside you, then…well… I hate to tell you this, but you know what is worse than risk?

Regret.

There is much less regret in the leap, than in not taking the leap!

You have two choices. You can either not go, and risk the regret that might last forever, or you can take the risk, and acquire life skills in the process that you will take with you for years, or decades, to come - even if you ‘fail’ and come back home forever.

Here are a few benefits of a move abroad: 

1. You take your life into your own hands. 

The minute you decide to move abroad, you begin the lifelong habit of deciding your own fate. Once you make that decision to move abroad, everything that follows happens because you decided to go for it.

2. You get rid of all the dead weight in your life.

When you start planning for a move abroad, you start clearing out your life. That means both the literal emptying of your closets and oftentimes a lot of the mental baggage you hold on to, too. You assess what you need and what you don’t need through the singular goal of moving abroad. When you have no basement to store your things, the answer to ‘Do I need to take this with me?’ is, more often than not, ‘No.’

3. You get to know your true self.

We are born on a patch of land that becomes our entire identity, if we let it. Everything from the weather and landscape to the local culture and national customs forms the way we understand the possibilities in life. We are surrounded by people who think and act similarly, reinforcing what seems ‘right.’ When you move abroad, you notice, sometimes for the first time, what comes from within you vs what came from external influences your whole life.

Ok, ok enough with the woo woo intangible stuff... where are these life skills you promised?

All of the above points help you to become the clearest, truest version of yourself. That is incredibly important to gain skills in other areas of your life. There is one more I can’t leave out…

4. You learn that ‘normal’ is meaningless.

What is normal to you, things you take for granted, entire social structures and constructs, become weird and out of place abroad. You realize that the people where you live, live by an entirely different set of rules, and that those rules work, too. That gives you a freedom like no other. 

Now on to more concrete skills:

5. You learn to communicate with anyone.

Regardless of language, culture, custom or circumstance, you learn to communicate with people. This happens either because you don’t speak the language and need to figure out how to explain something, or because you really learn to listen to people - what comes out of their mouth as well as their body language.

6. You learn to ask for help.

When you move abroad, you are going to have to ask for help. In our daily lives, we tend to put on a facade of control, pretending to have answers when we don’t. In a new country, at least at first, you will have no idea what is going on most of the time. Your pride doesn’t serve you, and once you get comfortable without the facade, you can operate in a more open, honest way. People at every level of your business and personal life can sense someone who is authentic and willing to admit their shortcomings.

7. Moving abroad enhances your career prospects. 

In the 2018 in-depth article How Living Abroad Helps You Develop A Clearer Sense of Self, Harvard Business Review (HBR) covered a study that showed that “[the living abroad] trend appears to be a good thing: social science studies have shown that international experiences can enhance creativity, reduce intergroup bias, and promote career success,” and concluded that it is the depth, not the breadth, of living abroad experiences that matter the most. Here’s how:

• Complex problem-solving

  As an expat, from very early on in your new life, every day is an exercise in problem-solving, even figuring out the bus ticket machine or going to the movies.

• Social media literacy

  Not only will you be keeping up with friends and family on the social media you already use, you might even use new platforms like WeChat in China, which would make you all the more desirable to employers back home.

• Resiliency

  Living abroad makes you strong and flexible. You can handle whatever a new job throws your way.

• Willingness to learn

  Expat life digs deep grooves in your brain for learning new things each and every day. That habit sticks with you when you return home, and employers will notice your willingness to learn and take on new projects.

• Ability to get out of your comfort zone

  Life abroad is life outside your comfort zone. Returning to your career will seem easy in this regard no matter what your job throws at you.

• Creativity

  Employers want people who can come up with fresh approaches to their work. The flexibility, awareness, and self-confidence gained from your life abroad stretches the limits in your mind and removes barriers like, “That’s not how we’ve always done it.” Your loyalty to normalcy and tradition go right out the window.

These points and 10 more can be found in Chapter 1 of my book, How To Move Abroad And Why It’s The Best Thing You’ll Do.