How to Succeed in the Digital Nomad Lifestyle

The journey of becoming a digital nomad can range from deceptively simple to overwhelmingly impossible. Cliché stories abound of people who claim to have walked straight out of their cubicle and into the airport, buying a one-way ticket to Bali and never looking back. Or so they say.

Then, there are the Type-A aspiring nomads who fully appreciate the paralyzing complexity of effectively and comprehensively accomplishing the task before them. This, of course, can include everything from changing careers to learning new skills to choosing where to relocate to ensuring you have set up your business and tax structure in the best way possible.

The potential length of your to-do list before even taking the first step is head spinning.

The problem in the case of the corporate corporate employee on his way to Bali is that he’s overly simplified things. Getting burnt out or fed up at work and making a snap decision to fly across the Pacific with a backpack may sound liberating and exciting, but it’s not a sustainable or responsible one.

That one-way ticket can quickly culminate into a two-way street back to square one — if you’re lucky! If not, you could end up like one of the many people who are stranded abroad without enough money to buy a ticket home. It happens more often than you’d think.

On the other hand, a perfectionist planner can end up so bogged down in the details that it could take her years to achieve her dreams, or worse — she might never take the first step.

Neither case is a good place to be.

There are numerous details involved in planning a life change or move abroad. But by focusing on four basic premises, you can increase your chances of long-term success in the location independent lifestyle before you even take the first step.

If you have these things covered or have considered them at all before taking the leap, you’re already ahead of the pack.

It’s a lot easier to set this up before you hit the road. Slow and steady wins the race. It’s better to simplify your life and cut back on expenses for a while compared to jumping in without a financial safety net.

You can earn revenue in many ways — just pick at least one or two and make sure you can depend on it:

Fight the urge to “figure it out” when you get there — wherever there is.

You’re planning to leave the “Standard American Lifestyle” for something completely new. You’ve got your known knowns, your known unknowns and your unknown unknowns. Expect the unexpected, take things with a grain of salt, retain your sense of humor, and that’s a good start.

After polling some of my 1,000 relocation clients from the past 7 years, the most common tips with regard to going with the flow were:

All human beings need to be a part of a community in order to really thrive in life. It doesn’t really matter who’s in your tribe or where you find those people, but seek and ye shall find.

As a digital nomad, it also helps to connect with the locals in your current location. It’s that je ne se quoi secret sauce that just makes everything better, no matter where you are. This way you never feel like you’re outside the circle because you’re always in it.

There’s a lot of talk about this darn “why” out there in business, personal development and academia. That’s because it’s important.

If you don’t know why you’re doing something — whatever it is — then you’ll never know if you’re going in the right direction or climbing the right ladder. Or if your ladder is leaning up against the right wall.

Far too many people enter the digital nomad lifestyle under the hazy guise of wanting to travel, without calibrating their internal compass first.

Every decade in life is precious. You don’t want to waste a minute or year treading water if you don’t have to. Sometimes 5 minutes of reflection can pre-empt years of anxiety, confusion, and false starts.

If you know why you’re doing this and what your goals are, you can gauge how well things are going for you.

You’ll very likely reach a point when you might decide you don’t want to be nomadic anymore and that’s fine. But if you aren’t clear on that why before you even start, the indecision of today can put precious future years in jeopardy.

My clients seem to value originality as well. In my little poll, a large number of them responded that they feel comfortable being different. They went their own way, marched to the beat of their own drum, followed their heart and what have you. They trusted their own instincts and desires more than what society suggested, and they didn’t care what anyone else thought.

(See above.)

If part of the reason you wanted to become a digital nomad was for more control over your destiny, make sure you do just that! A life design plan is a good way to get a bird’s eye view of your master plan and what makes you happy. More than a vision board, it’s a practical way of creating your future with intention.

It should cover all aspects of life like:

It’s easy to forget your goals just as quickly as you think of them. You need to keep them at the forefront of your awareness for the best chances of following through.

Whether you do this monthly, quarterly, or annually, it’s important to regularly conduct self-assessments, objectively review your progress, and decide when you need to elevate or discard a past goal. As you travel around the world, meet people, and grow as a person, your priorities might change. YOU might change!

If you’re feeling out of alignment in any of these areas, you might be straying off track. The best way to feel good again is to recognize when and where you took a wrong turn. Then get back to your happy place.

So, what are the main ways you can set yourself up for success? Let’s recap:

Related posts:

Christmas always brings back childhood memories for me. One memory that I love goes back to grade school. We learned to make paper chains using colored construction paper. We used those chains to…