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There's been a rush of interest in the idea of "lifestyle design" and location independent living since the popularity of Tim Ferriss' book, The Four Hour Work Week. This has had the benefit of an abundance of new and useful resources being created and made available, to help you to set up your location independent business and live a fulfilling location independent lifestyle. But, having lived a location independent lifestyle for the past year, I've learned that there's one resource that you'll need more than any other, if you want to enjoy the benefits of location independent living: the ability to be agile and to change easily and gracefully.
Agility: the ultimate location independent resource
We live in high-change times. As Charles Darwin said, “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change.” With the advancement of technology, globalization and our increased interconnectedness, we're now living in a very fast-paced, high-information, high-change world and one of the core life skills for thriving in this era is the ability to change easily and gracefully in response to our constantly changing environment. Location independence is an especially high-change lifestyle, so if you want to enjoy the benefits of a location independent lifestyle, you'll need this skill more than ever.
For most people, the success of their location independent lifestyle depends on their ability to set up a successful location independent source of income, usually through an online business. One of the greatest advantages of online location independent businesses is their potential to be lean and agile and to change easily and quickly so they can leverage time-sensitive opportunities as they arise. But you can only leverage this advantage if you're comfortable with and skilled at managing change.
Some people set up location independent lifestyles so they can work from home or live somewhere remote, but for many people like myself, location independent living is about being able to travel the world while you continue doing what you love and earn a good income. And if you're traveling, you'll only enjoy your traveling experiences if you have a high tolerance for change in your environment. If you aren't comfortable with change and adjusting quickly to new environments, the stresses of traveling will outweigh the pleasures.
In the end, being able to change easily and gracefully is all about your ability to learn. When you can learn easily, you can access and develop any other set of knowledge or skills you'll need to have to be able to set up and enjoy your location independent lifestyle and make any other changes you want to make.
So here are some tips I've gleaned and found useful in my own traveling location independent lifestyle, to help you to become more comfortable with change and to create the kind of location independent lifestyle you'll love.
- Realise that we're biologically wired to resist change. From a physiological point of view, even minor changes in things like our blood pressure or body temperature could result in death, so there's a part of each of us that resists change, gets all fearful and needs to be reassured that all is well when we're going through change and entering unfamiliar territory. You are not your fear. The part of you that's freaking out is just doing it's loving, protective job, and in fact the fear and resistance is actually an indication that you're already successfully learning and extending your comfort zone. Reminding yourself of this can keep you from getting sucked into your fear and doubling your problem by being afraid of your fear. After deciding what changes you want to make, managing your fear is probably the most important thing required if you want to become more agile.
- Know yourself and your level of comfort with change. We all have a natural change cycle. If you discover the frequency and degree of change that you naturally desire and feel good about, and you create a lifestyle to match that, you'll be in your groove. Some of us are revolutionaries who like major change every 3 to 12 months, while others are evolutionaries who like consistent gradual changes with major changes only once every 3 to 5 years, while still others are maintainers who can tolerate major change only once every 10 years or so and need their change in very small doses. You can discover your change cycle in an article I wrote over here.
- Get to know the predictable phases you'll go through as you negotiate change. One of the most anxiety-provoking aspects of change is that it brings a lot of uncertainty. But you can feel more secure as you negotiate change when you understand the predictable phases that you'll go through, because then you can familiarize yourself with the challenges within each phase and be more prepared to handle those challenges. Business Coach and author, Pam Slim, has a really useful slideshare and audio about the 4 phases of change, where she explains what you can expect in each phase and how to deal with the challenges of each phase, using the example of the big change of taking the leap into starting your own business.
- Focus on what you can control. Things won't always go according to plan in a high-change location independent lifestyle because you can't control everything. Trying to control stuff you can't control, like other people's perceptions and behavior, the weather, and so on, will leave you feeling ineffective, dis-empowered and stressed out. So focus on controlling what you can control instead - your own thoughts, feelings and behavior. That way, when things go wrong as they're bound to, you can pull yourself out of feeling bad and come up with resourceful ways to deal with the situation.
- Develop a baby-steps mentality. It's easy to overwhelm yourself during major changes by focusing on the end results, but you can learn anything if you're willing to take consistent baby steps in the right direction. Perhaps more importantly, when you're taking baby steps with small iterations and regular reviews, rather than big leaps, you can more easily manage risk and more elegantly adjust and change course when you realize it's necessary. Focusing on baby steps will also help to reassure that fearful part of you that all is well, because you'll be taking a step that's gently and gradually stretching your comfort zone, rather than leaping completely outside of your comfort zone.
- Create some basic routines to anchor yourself each day so that you feel some sense of stability even when a lot of other things are changing. If you have a bit of routine, especially at the beginning and end of your day, then you'll reassure that anxious part of yourself that all is well and you haven't entirely left familiar territory. Some examples of stabilizing activities you can build into your routine include yoga, walking, running, journaling, meditation or prayer, reading, bathing and relaxation exercises. Activities that involve either exercise, reflection or relaxation are great for working out any physical and emotional stress you're carrying and centering yourself emotionally.
Through her location independent coaching business and the Bottom-line Bookclub, Cath Duncan helps people to develop "Agile Living Strategies" - the life skills for thriving in this fast-paced, high-information, high-change era and becoming more of the person you want to be. Cath is also one of the resident life coaches at www.locationindependent.com.
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December 2, 2009 9:48 am
Nice post! I have been location independent for about 7 months now and your tips on knowing how adaptive you are to change are spot on.
It is essential to let go of the 9-5 hours and completely stable office environment in order to not only succeed, but to feel comfortable at all.
I would add that changing your view of success has to be part of a healthy location independent's life as well. I used to value putting in a long days' work as successful while I now see success as project based. When I complete a great project (no matter the time of day I worked on it) I have achieved something.
December 2, 2009 10:26 am
Great point, Caitlin - especially the bit about re-defining success. Actually that idea of being more focused on getting results on projects rather than counting how many hours you've worked is something that's badly needed in the average workplace too!
December 2, 2009 11:21 am
This is an important thing to remember these days.
Many people have this idea they can do a "set it and forget it" kind of job/company. This is particularly true with an online site. In some rare cases, that may be true, but in most cases times change too fast for a particular type of site to have any staying power.
Most of the online jobs that people have this year did not exist 5 years ago. Who knows what will be possible next year? What jobs/sites will become obsolete within a short time. The internet itself is only 14 years old or so. Look how much has happened in that short period of time.
The times, they are a changin'. You'd be wise to stay abreast of them. Every generation has people getting left behind with their skills. The times between those generations keeps moving quicker.
December 2, 2009 11:52 am
That book sure did get some people moving.. Even if someone didn't want to quit their day job, this idea of lifestyle design and implementing some of the ideas can generate a second passive income. Great post!
December 2, 2009 12:09 pm
Cath,
I think it is about 5-6 yrs for me.. seems there is a patter with me! :-)
Personally, I'm in a funk right now. Hoping I'll come out at the other end-- location independent in Thailand.
These are really helpful points! Thanks for sharing.
December 2, 2009 12:15 pm
These are wonderful insights. I am glad that you took the time to look beyond the simple "Everyone wants to be Location Independent" approach.
I hope to see more of these types of posts! They are really helpful for someone like me who is debating if it is possible to be Location Independent at all.
Thanks!!
December 2, 2009 1:03 pm
@James: you're so right about the "set it and forget it" crew - that sort of attitude doesn't create a sustainable income source (an for most people it's not a significant source of income even in the short-term either), so it's a pretty risky way to go.
@Cathy:thanks!
@Aye: where are you right now in that 5-6yr change cycle? Do you think your "funk" is part of beginning a new change/ ending something? The "funk" is a pretty normal, universal symptom of phase 1 of the change cycle!I'll be happy to share some tips on dealing with the funk if you think it's related to starting a significant change.
@Beth: if it's possible for someone to be location independent, then it's probably possible for you :)
But, having said that, you're right - location independence and lifestyle design has become this trendy thing amongst Gen Y and there's almost this sense of judgment around it - that you haven't "made it" yet if you're not location independent and traveling and there's this new "template lifestyle" that's be reproduced. Drop that stuff and figure out what you want - then you'll enjoy the process of change and the results of the changes you make.
December 18, 2009 1:51 pm
Nice post, Cath. Something I would add is that while you're right that most people resist change there are others who thrive on adrenaline, seeking huge change at every turn. I think a lot of location independents and those who want to be might fall under this category. The trick with people who are looking for the adrenaline rush is actually to get them to slow down a bit and think through their change before rushing headlong into something that could turn out pretty badly.
December 18, 2009 5:21 pm
So much easier said than done! Know thyself is the biggest part of this one, just as it is in so many other things. Best of luck in your location independent lifestyle. I look forward to reading more posts from your delightful, nomadic world. With a little luck and a lot more work, I hope to be right in there with you some day soon.
December 19, 2009 2:55 am
@Nunomad: you're spot-on!In the paragraph, "Know yourself and your level of comfort with change" you'll see I have a link to another article I wrote, to help people identify their change cycle. Alot of LIPs/ Nomads are revolutionaries, and the benefit of that is that they love the first stage of change - the starting afresh, the dreaming up new possibilities... but they can be less good at the follow-through/ implementation of their dreams, especially when it takes a while to see results. An important issue to look out for, if you're a revolutionary and either work on developing greater patience and persistence or find a partner who is willing to handle the parts you don't enjoy.
@Danielle: all the best with your location independent journey. There's a lot of people claiming to have taken the leap/ made mega money is a short time, but I think you're right - the implementation is the hard part and if you don't create a solid, viable foundation/ income, it's not sustainable. Keep going!
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