It’s not everybody’s cup of tea but most people I speak to say they would love to Travel the World. Then when I ask why they don’t just do it, I’m met with too many excuses. Sure, I agree that it’s not easy to just put everything down, jump on a plane and not return for a year. However with some careful planning, breaking down the old self-made mental barriers, and some shrewd saving, it certainly is something that you can achieve.
This article is based on my experience having gave up my job in my late twenties (which was high earning and a progressive career opportunity), rented my apartment out, severed many more ties and then jumped on a plane to South East Asia. Something inside me issued a stark reminder that life is too short and if I don’t do it now, when will I ever do it. So I took the leap, focused on all the positives and basically made it happen. Exactly a year later I returned an improved and more open person which resulted in me creating a new business which became very successful and gave me freedom in my life. I wholeheartedly credit most of that success to the fact that I went travelling around the world.
Here are some great reasons on Why you should take a career break and Travel the World:
You will ‘live life’ fully in the present moment
You will see so many wonderful sights and experience amazing things
You will discover and appreciate new cultures
You will learn new languages
You will gain important perspectives in life
You will make many new friends
You will return wiser, smarter and open to new opportunities
You will feel free
You will have an amazing time enjoying yourself
You will be ultimately be happier
It doesn’t mean you need to give up everything and travel the world for a year or more. You can take a series of shorter breaks and have an agreement with your employer to take some time off or even work on your project whilst away.
If you have kids then there’s always the possibility of travelling for six weeks in the summer and present them to many new cultures and growth-orientated experiences. Many families travel and there is always accommodation available on sites such as airbnb.com. It may take more forward planning to make it happen….
Financing such a world trip could be the challenge for many people trying to make the dream a reality, but if you want it enough then there is always a way. Start by cutting out all the costs that you don’t really need and make some sacrifices on nights out or the odd ‘treat’. If you have your own place then consider moving in with other people for a short period. Start saving, and saving hard! Making more money will of course help loads so consider asking for overtime at your job or starting a little side business in your spare time. Stay in touch with my website for more tips on creating new passive income streams, and read my previous post Make Money While you Sleep.
The simple reality is that you don’t really have much time on this earth, and you certainly don’t want to regret things that you didn’t do. Therefore before its too late, start writing down your travel plans now and put the ball in motion for the experience of a lifetime – you won’t regret it!
Isn’t it easy to get caught up in the normal old routine and feel trapped in the ‘same old same old’? How many times have you set good intentions to start a new routine, a new diet or exercise plan, and then after (usually a very) short time you go back to your old ways? I know, I have been there many times!
So if you’re determined to make a change in your life now, then read on and incorporate these new habits into your daily routine. Once you have introduced new actions into your daily life they will soon become a habit. Wouldn’t it be great to replace your old habits with positive and productive new habits? Start with a couple at a time until they become regular. No saying “I will try” – get it done as it’s the result that matters!!!
Good Luck and Good Vibes.
1. Wake up early
Ensuring you have a sufficient number of hours of sleep the night before, wake up early and start the day with a positive mind-set. You can achieve so much more earlier in the morning when you don’t have the distractions, and the feeling of satisfaction you get when you’ve completed most of your tasks before other people have even started their day is transforming!
2. Drink water with lemon
Having a glass of water with lemon first thing in the morning helps rid your body of toxins that have been stored overnight. Not only does it aid your digestive tract, it also boosts your metabolism, helping you feel energised sooner. A couple of slices of lemon squeezed into the glass is enough to freshen up your morning.
3. Say out loud the things you’re grateful for
From the law of attraction, being grateful for the things you have will bring more great things to you. So start your day by saying out loud 10 things that you are grateful for in your life. Don’t think too hard about it, you can be grateful for the simple things in life. Just say the first thing that comes to mind and you will soon be comfortable with this new habit. Finish off the routine by saying Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.
4. Write down your priorities for the day
We don’t want you to write lists about lists, so keep your to-do list short and focus on the priorities. Stick to no more that a top 10 list as these are priorities after all. I find that writing down an estimated activity time down against each action helps to plan the day better, and also keeps you motivated to get the actions complete. Your sense of achievement increases when you complete the tasks on time, and you can then write a new list of priorities. It really does work wonders!
5. Read your Desires List
First of all you should write down all the things you desire in life. Not just the ‘things’ you want but how you want to be living, where you want to go and who you want to be. Each day you should read out this list and truly feel that you are already living them (this is important). This will work on your subconscious and you will start to attract these things into your life. By reviewing this daily you are focusing on what you really want in life in a positive way, which will result in positive outcomes.
Having stillness for only 10 minutes each day will have huge positive impacts on your life. Being in touch with the self will help you to become more mindful and aware of what is actually happening. You can control and decrease unnecessary stress that today’s busy life brings. You will gain more control over your emotions and be able to make better life decisions. We cannot control the thoughts that enter our minds, but we can control how we react to these thoughts, and meditation is a great way to slow down the pace of your life and live at peace.
7. Exercise
Getting up and moving around every day is one of the most essential daily habits you should get into. Not only will it keep you fit and healthy, but it will add time to your life and provide endorphins to make you happy. Yoga is my personal favourite but no matter what you like, just make sure that you build it into your routine. Similar to meditation, exercise calms the mind and breaks down any stress in the body and mind. Joining a health club also has great social benefits and you will feel great meeting new people.
8. Smile
Smiling can make you happy even when you are not. The simple act of smiling sends a message to your brain that you are happy, and when you are happy your body sends out feel-good endorphins. Smiling also makes other people happy and brightens up your day without you even realising it. So be conscious of your mood and make an effort to smile throughout the day and especially when you come into contact with people.
9. Talk to people
Our brains are literally created to connect with others. So while it may be great to have some alone time or simply switch to autopilot when going through your daily commute, the truth is that we crave connection. Satisfy your innate desire and the desire of others by reaching out and talking to strangers. A lack of human connection can make you feel depressed, alone and isolated so pick up the phone and make sure you speak to more people every day.
10. Do at least one thing that brings you joy
Do something you love every day of your life. Treat yourself and be good to yourself. Our daily lives are full of things that we often don’t feel like doing, so make sure you take some time for yourself and do something that you love. Be ‘in the moment’ and really appreciate doing this thing. It could be something quick and simple but it will make you feel great.
11. Eat healthy – make it nutritious
Consider, really consider what you are putting into your body. Learn more about nutrition and cut out the foods that do not provide you with nutrition. Many people are over fed but under nourished. Rather than follow new fad diets, just list the sort of things that you will not eat such as processed foods and high sugar content foods. Buy a juicer and make juices every day to get the nutrition your body needs. Cut out fizzy drinks and drink water instead. These small changes will make huge improvements to your wellbeing.
12. Listen to motivational audio
It is easy to fall back into old patterns and get lost in thoughts. Therefore, listening to positive motivational audio helps to bring your thought patterns back to the healthy state you desire. You can listen to audiobooks or even search for some good material on you tube. Just like keeping your body fit, your mind needs constant positive exercise too!
Spending time outdoors in nature is a great way to obtain an improved sense of wellbeing. Researchers have found that regardless of culture people gravitate to images of nature. Our inborn affiliation for nature may explain why we prefer to live in houses with particular views of the natural world.
14. Be of service to someone
Ask yourself each day – ‘Who can I serve today’? Try to make someone’s day, every day—and not only for their benefit. Kindness actually has numerous health benefits. Plus, who doesn’t like helping someone? It puts a smile on everyone’s face!
15. Visualise tomorrow
This should be done at night before bed. By visualising what you want to achieve the next day, you program your subconscious mind which will prepare you for the morning. You will become more effective and more productive because you’re ready and everything is within your reach. It will also help you to spring out of bed motivated and knowing what you want to achieve.
What is it that drives you? What is it that makes your heart race? What is that passion locked away inside of you, bursting to get out, if only you didn’t have so many other things to do today? Or another way to look at it – what would you be doing with your life if you had say, £25k paid into your bank account every month forever? This takes the pressure off a little and helps you think of things that you wouldn’t normally have thought were possible.
We all have a passion, some people however don’t know what it is. But deep down we do know what our passion is. Life can be tough and these days it seems to rush past at a hundred miles an hour, so it can be difficult to actually stop and think about yourself. Too much work, more overtime required, kids have activities tonight, bills to pay, tv to watch, new stuff to buy, less food to try, are all reasons why we put things off. “I’ll focus on me once I finish this, or once that happens” people say to themselves.
Unfortunately with life’s pressures, money plays a factor and people feel helpless to do what they truly love – what they were born to do. The busyness of life closes the mind and prevents that creative flair breaking through. The following process may just help you when searching for the passion within.
List down your talents
Think about the thing that you have a natural aptitude for, and that you enjoy. Forget about what you are good at but don’t really like doing so much. Think about the things that you have a flair for that spark joy or can happily occupy you. Identifying things you love that you’re good at is a great way to reveal potential passions. Don’t be concerned if what you love isn’t practical or doesn’t seem a good idea for making a living. That part comes a lot later.
It should also be noted that you don’t have to be good at something for it to be a passion. You don’t have to ever earn a penny of income from it either. Talent can simply be a clue. When it comes to your passions, the only thing that matters is that you enjoy them.
Follow your excitement
Do you remember what you enjoyed as a child? A child will be fully present in the moment playing their game until they are done with it and then will quickly move on to the next thing without even thinking about it. Kids are naturally in tune with what excites them. You need to rekindle that relationship with your inner child and play with one thing to the next and see what comes up for you along the way.
When you follow your excitement, you’ll find that the path often changes – and that’s a good thing. While some of the experiences that excited you as a child or teenager may still be going strong, there are others that you may have lost your passion for, and that’s okay. It can be difficult to let go of things, especially if a part of your identity is wrapped up in them. Let go of your old passions, make a new list and you will make room for your true excitement to express itself.
Once you have found something that excites you, then focus on that theme:
Sports
Music
Teaching
Art
Business
Travel
Philanthropy
and so on…
Whatever it is that excites you, it will be part of an overall theme that you can connect it with that will help you learn how to discover your passion in life. The truth is that many of you are probably already doing something that is your passion but because of how society defines a “career,” you have (without knowing it) discounted it not realising that you already found it but have minimized it thinking that “There is no way I could make money from doing this”. You would be amazed at how much your subconscious rules your life without even knowing it.
Have fun, make it an adventure
From my experience I witness people putting too much pressure on themselves to find their passion, as if it will finally make them happy. Instead of relaxing and making it fun, they become too attached to the outcome and don’t allow the creativity to flourish.
When you deliberately open yourself to noticing things you might enjoy doing, don’t be afraid of getting it wrong. Life is an adventure, always learning and growing as you go, and a lot of the time through results that didn’t quite go to plan. So keep trying new things, have fun, and learn along the way!
Make it happen
So now that you have worked out what your passion is, the next step is working out how will you go about making the changes in your life so that you can live your passion. You can start surrounding yourself with the type of people that share your passions, join a new club, go for lessons, go back to college. More importantly is to change how you balance your working life, unless of course your passion is your job (in which case you’ve probably already solved this!). Despite what many people may tell you, you don’t need to work every hour under the sun. You can do things smarter, prioritise, and spend time on the things that really matter. That should free up some time to put towards your dreams.
When you find your passion in life, it might turn out that you want to start your own business. In working life, you are either fulfilling your dream or supporting someone else’s. Don’t let the fear of starting your own business scare you into not trying. With technology, you live in a time that is easier to take your idea and turn it into a business, so why not Find the Passion Within You?
It has been two years since I left the company that I created which eventually gave me the status of millionaire at 38. But things have changed now. I no longer crave those material things for satisfaction. I no longer aim to have the status or be ‘the man’. Things have certainly changed. I sold my fancy car and now drive a Volkswagen campervan, I downsized my home and love my new apartment. I sold some and gave away lots more of my ‘things’. This stuff just doesn’t float my boat anymore.
I live a great life. I’ve just spent the last four months in Brazil, escaping the Scottish winter. I have the means to be anywhere in the world when I want, and Brazil was a great choice (more on my experiences on other blogs to come). However, something was missing. After being the leader of a fast growing business and taking it to a successful sale in 2012, I had lost my purpose. My aim was always to grow the business, make lots of money and then travel the world forever. And the last few years I did travel a lot. But something was still missing – my Purpose. I dabbled with new business start-ups, gave some coaching sessions to entrepreneurs and worked on some property projects, but I didn’t commit enough to anything because it didn’t excite my passions within.
The reason for coming to Brazil was two-fold – to escape the dark, wet and windy winter of Scotland, and to truly find my purpose and next step of my life. And it didn’t take long to find it. I dreamt up this website and instantly got excited about the opportunity to pass on my many experiences in business and life that could help other people. It wasn’t about making lots of money anymore, as that didn’t make me any happier. I’m excited because I get the chance to see people achieve things that they never thought possible. They can learn simple new daily habits that will make a big positive difference in their life.
For entrepreneurs, I will offer to design their exit from their business, whether that is a sale in the coming years, or to achieve freedom by empowering the existing team to take over the day to day running. One of my specialities is strategy and creating a detailed plan of what needs to be done to get the business ready for exit.
For employees, I will help to find that passion within you that can perhaps lead you to a new profession, a business start up, or just help to make your job more enjoyable. By changing your perception on work, you can really start to enjoy it more.
Like other coaches, I will of course offer coaching sessions via Skype etc. but the number of clients will be limited. So the aim is to provide free advice, ideas and news via the Blogs. These blogs are based on my three passions of Business, Life and Travel. I already have a number of topics to write about based on some questions that people have sent me so far, and I will continue to write about the things that my community are asking me. So if you want to start making the desired changes in your life and achieve that Success that you’ve always wanted, then sign up for free, get in touch and share your views with me.
