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How to Successfully Work Abroad, From Someone Who's Done It
Prepare for Growing Pains
As exciting as it is to move and work abroad, such monumental change can also bring on waves of anxiety.
Routines and cultural norms you take for granted don’t exist in other countries. Instead of fighting against them, recognize the benefit of a different way of doing things—learn new customs and challenge yourself to adapt to different business practices.
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Key Ideas
Hobbies for relaxation
Americans have roughly 5 hours of leisure per day. However, watching TV takes up more than half of those hours. Then, when we do make use of those leisure hours, our hustle culture makes...
The“fantasy self”
One mistake people make when starting a hobby is picking something aspirational rather than something they enjoy. When you pick a hobby, stay true to what you enjoy. If you like cooking, try to take your current skills up a notch. If you like writing, try a fiction workshop.
If you want to try something totally new, start small. To hold yourself accountable, enlist friends in the effort.
Hobbies and side hustles
A hobby is not a side hustle. It is important to develop hobbies outside of our economy with no financial motives attached.
Since a leisure pursuit is an outlet for stress, the pure pleasure of engaging in a hobby should be enough. A hobby not only helps to refuel us for a busy work life but also helps us to practice deep focus.
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Key Ideas
An Unbalanced Life
We live in a culture where work demands our complete allegiance. At the same time, it can be extremely enriching. You feel challenged by your work, you're attached to it, you're learning new things...
Redefine Success
Reconsider how you define success. Workaholics are always aiming to get ahead. But you also need to draw a boundary line that shows respect for your family life, and your physical and spiritual well-being.
Refocus Your Attention
After you have redefined success, consider how you want to invest your time and energy.
There will always be more work to be done, but make a choice to spend your time elsewhere: with family, friends, or in your community. And when you spend time with your family or friends, do so with undivided attention.
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Fear of moving abroad
Any decision as big as moving abroad is bound to spark fear: The timing will never feel perfect. It will always be hard to leave family and friends, and your career will always be in f...
Plan in advance
Careful planning can cancel out many of the common fears around moving abroad, including fears about your career or the fear of being lonely.
The movie-like approach of "pick a place you think you might like, save money, buy a one-way ticket and hope that you will get a job once you are there" might not work for you if you are held out by fears.
Be realistic
There is always a chance that moving abroad won't work out as you imagined.
Realize that this won't be the end of the world. You can always go back home, or you can always move to another city or country. This is not your only shot, and if you decide your new home isn't for you, it's perfectly okay to reconsider.