Relocation & Expat Coach

Tip five - the 'why not's!'

Take this time to clearly understand what is good in your current environment, relationships, work/career/business, social life, hobbies, and any other area that you are currently experiencing.

Take some time out to be very clear about what you and only you want to change in your future.

Now think about the reasons why you should not move.  Sounds like a strange suggestion, but getting absolutely clarity on why you want to move will truly make it happen.  Thinking about the reasons why you should not move will help you identify what you need to find in your future.

It is probably more important now than any of the writing in your journal that you've done to:
- be specific about why you do not want to move
- be specific about why you do not want to change your current life
- know how you will measure finding these elements/areas in your future life
- agreed / action-oriented - be absolutely clear on the actions you need to take to ensure that you keep in your future life what you do not want to leave behind from your current life
- realistic - how easy will it be to keep what you do not want to leave behind?  If you have any concerns about one of your 'why not's', then you need to include the research you need to do in your actions/tasks.
- time framed - clearly document what your timescale is for each task/action, and what is your timescale for each decision you need to take?
- exciting - looking at the 'why not's' - do you still feel excited about your moving?  It is true that it we cannot live, dream, breathe, be engulfed by our goal, it probably won't be achieved - so knowing that what you do not want to leave behind/lose won't be - will help! 
- recorded - it's important to capture your goal ... write a sentence (preferably not a paragraph) about your what you want to keep when you emigrate.  This will allow you to focus - clearly focus.  Now write it on something or put it somewhere where you will see it regularly.

Want to make a success of your plans to move?  Want to work with someone who will not judge the reasons you want to make your move, who will not guide you down a specific path?  You have this opportunity to work with a qualified and accredited coach who has done it!

Just email Barbara on [email protected]!

Find Barbara's biog on http://www.internationalcoachinginstitute.org/coach_referral_service/display_detail.php?trf=91

Excitement ... !

Madeira!

In February 2008 we came across Madeira.  There is no other to describe how we found the island. We spent many hours on the internet.  We got out our list of 'what do we want from our new environment' - it ticked all the boxes!  We got a bit wary - what were we missing?

After we booked our flights, accommodation and car hire we started letting people know we were 'going on holiday'.  As soon as we said 'Madeira' we got a number of reactions - all positive!  Often people said 'I haven't been, but know of someone who has and they loved it.'  Occassionally we got 'we loved it when we went.'  Very close friends explained that they had looked at buying property there over the years. 

We made the decision to go and find out whether what we understood of the island was true and what was missing.  As it was described - we went to see what the reasons were that we should not move.  This was an interesting approach.  We both knew exactly what we were looking for in our new environment - location, house, land, work/career/business, friends, social life, interests, ease of travel, legislation, regulation, taxation, eco/green, and the list goes on.

After a challenging month we boarded the plan to fly out to Madeira on 19th May, 2008.  This date is clearly etched in our memories.  Flying into Madeira is an interesting experience.  We had been warned about the airport, but until you experience this - it isn't something I can describe.

The next day saw us driving out of the capital city - Funchal, around the south and south west of the island.  We spent the day going into and out of villages.  We spoke to a number of people - some visiting (like us) and others living there.  We were given some great tips - so got out the journal and jotted these down. 

The following day we left Funchal and drove around the north and east of the island.  Today was an overcast and blustery day.  Although a number of visitors weren't happy, we didn't mind as this did show us what type of weather we could experience if we chose to live here.  Again we spent the day visiting towns and villages, and meeting people.

Madeira is truly an island of nationalities - although Portuguese, we had already met not only with a number of Portuguese but also with English, Germans, and South Africans.

We got back to the hotel and we agreed that we should investigate further while we were on the island.  So out came the laptops, into the internet we connected and started looking for Estate Agents.  That evening, we sent out many, many emails asking about specific properties, land and building, and towns and villages.

Want to make a success of your plans to move?  Want to work with someone who will not judge the reasons you want to make your move, who will not guide you down a specific path?  You have this opportunity to work with a qualified and accredited coach who has done it!

Just email Barbara on [email protected]!

Find Barbara's biog on http://www.internationalcoachinginstitute.org/coach_referral_service/display_detail.php?trf=91