Moving to another country? First you need to get over the mental hurdle.
Getting over the mental hurdle and setting yourself up for success before you go.
Since moving from New York to Sydney five years ago, I’ve had this conversation literally dozens of times. New people reach out to me on LinkedIn every couple of weeks with the same questions: “Dan, how did you move to Australia? Do you have any advice for me on moving to another country?” You bet I do.
First things first, you need to get over the mental hurdle long before you get over the logistical hurdles. The horse must come before the cart and, make no mistake, the mental hurdle is the horse. So, let’s talk about what I did months before I moved to mentally prepare.
#1. First, I did a fear-setting exercise from one of my favorite people, Tim Ferriss. This is the single biggest thing that pushed me over the edge. It’s much like a goal setting exercise where you break down your lofty goals into smaller, achievable ones with actionable steps. When you do this effectively, that lofty goal doesn’t seem so impossible anymore. In this case, however, you’re breaking down your fears in such a way that makes them, well, not so scary anymore.
Here’s how to do it.
Step 1: When you’re thinking of doing something “crazy” (e.g. moving to another country), you start by just writing down the worst things that could possibly happen if you do it. Then for each of those, write how you could prevent those things from happening and, if those terrible things were to happen, how you could recover from them.
Step 2: Write down the benefits of following through on this wild idea.
Step 3: Write down the cost of inaction. If you don’t do this, what might you miss out on?
There’s a fun range of emotions you’ll experience when you do this. When I did it though, I went from a little sad and nervous to beaming with excitement and feeling ready to shoot out of a cannon.
#2. After fear-setting came goal-setting. I established career goals, financial goals, personal goals (e.g. make new friends) and travel goals for my first three months. That probably sounds like a lot, so let me clarify something: these goals were there to help me steer the ship, not to control every aspect of my life. While goal-setting can be very detailed, as I alluded to above, don’t over-engineer this part when you’re moving abroad. The last thing you want is to move to a new country and feel like you can’t be spontaneous. Goal-setting just helped me maintain a sense of balance and direction amongst the spontaneity.
#3. I had a plan. Now before we get into it, I’ll preface this section by saying that it may or may not be relevant to you, depending on whether or not you are moving to another country with your current employer. I quit my job and traveled for a few months before getting to Sydney, so for me there was more of a need to make a rational plan of attack to setup shop here.
And, in a way, knowing I had a plan to mitigate any career or financial downside actually gave me the sense of comfort I needed to let go and embrace what was right in front of me in the moment.
Anyway, let’s get down to it.
- I researched visas. This feels obvious but in the spirit of being thorough let’s not skip over it. There are often different types of visas that people can hold, ranging from travel visas to permanent visas. You should definitely know the visa you require being planning your move. If you’re considering a move to Australia, I’ve covered this in more detail here.
- I didn’t go in blind from a career perspective. I knew moving away from New York probably wouldn’t accelerate my career, but I was willing to make a minor tradeoff for the international life experience. Anything more than “minor” though and I was headed back to the US.
- I knew the types of jobs I wanted to go for in Sydney and the skills employers sought for those jobs. So, in the six months prior to my move, I found opportunities to demonstrate those skills in the job I was already in so I would have relevant stories to tell in interviews. Where I couldn’t, I took General Assembly classes and even did a Start-Up Weekend to get additional experience while still in New York.
- I established a network. I was fortunate to know people in Sydney before making the move, and I leveraged those connections into new connections and job referrals. If you don’t know many people in the city you’re interested in, I’ve found folks are often more willing than you’d think to help a stranger. Send some LinkedIn messages asking for chats and get networking. People will help you — you just need to ask.
- I set a budget for the move. I had a few months of expenses set aside and if I couldn’t standup a new life for myself on that budget, I was pulling the rip-cord and buying a one-way ticket back to the US.
- The other thing I’ll call out is that if you’re moving to a country that will require you to speak another language, you’ll probably want to take lessons or jump on Duolingo ASAP. I didn’t need to but, if you do, give yourself ample time to learn the language and set yourself up for success.
So, there you have it. Moving abroad doesn’t need to be as scary as you think — even if you’re quitting your job and moving with nothing more than a backpack, suitcase and some youthful optimism. If you do your homework beforehand to clear the mental hurdles, you’ll be able to fully embrace the spontaneity of a new place and still navigate a soft landing as you build your new life.
For more information to help you prepare for your big adventure, check out part two of this article here. Good luck and enjoy yourself!
