How to Get a New Life Abroad

Summary: How to find the courage and commitment to make your new life abroad a reality.

Step Two - Stop thinking “what have I got to lose” - instead, start asking yourself “what have I got to gain?”

Time to be utterly selfish - and time for another list!

You and your important people - i.e., anyone else you want to move overseas with (partner, children) - need to sit down and make a ‘life wish list.’

What is it you want out of life...?

a) Financially - super rich, comfortable, totally down-sized.  Define your decision.

b) Lifestyle-wise - social animal with more time to party, peaceful life with time to enjoy your children, happy to pursue a career dream, ready to retire.  Again, define your decision to make it easier for your important people to interpret your wishes.

c) Personally - do you want to learn a new skill, have children, write a book, establish your own business?  Be utterly selfish because you never know, what you want might fit exactly with what every one else wants, which could mean you’re on your way to total happiness!

Now compare lists!

Find common ground, find compromise and ultimately see how the dreams you’ve all now defined will be reconciled with the reality of a new life abroad.

Again, as you progress with your planning you can keep these dreams in mind and make sure you’re progressing in the right direction to achieve them.

Step Three - Honesty and self knowledge.

You and your family now need to be honest with yourselves about the type of people you are. 

Are new beginnings a thrill and challenge for you or does the thought truly scare you? 

Think about a few of these ‘new life abroad’ realities and how you’ll cope with them: -

- Do you need a fixed routine?  How do you cope with uncertainty and confusion!
- If you’ve moved home before, how did you find the entire experience and what did you learn from the experience?
- Can you cope without the security of having your family and friends close at hand for emotional and practical support?
- How do you cope with firsts - first day in a new job or school, first person to ask for help, first person to extend the hand of friendship with strangers?
- How do you deal with surprises and the unexpected?
- How quickly do you learn - a new skill, a new custom, a new language?

If you go into a blind panic at the thought of these things, are you certain that you want to uproot yourself and go through the stress that does go with any new start? 

Yes, the rewards are there but you do have to battle through some stresses to get there.

If you know that as a family unit you will survive, or you’re considering making the move alone and you know that you’re strong enough to keep going through the unknown to establish a life for yourself, then all you now need to do is go back to your motivation for choosing a new life abroad and hold on to that...it will get you through.

As long as you face up to the fact that your journey will suffer some bumps, some troughs as well as some peaks, your motivating factor from ‘Step One’ will give you the focus and determination to keep going towards your ultimate goal.

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