Moving abroad brings a big change to your life. But often, the biggest change does not necessarily happen around you but rather inside you. Moving to another country and living a global life leaves remarkable impressions to your identity, your vision in life and your entire worldview. I even believe that spending time abroad is the best time to develop personally. Here, I´m explaining 5 strong reasons why:
Top reason: You are demanded to step out of your comfort zone…
…constantly. Every day. Stepping out of one´s comfort zone is known to be THE pre-condition for personal development. If things around you are as usual or you leave everything at it is then nothing will change and so won´t you. But living abroad brings you change, lots of change. Even though this can be tough sometimes, this is actually a gift that you can use to improve yourself.
In a new and different environment you are forced to figure out how things work by your own. To build up a new social network and meeting people requires coming out of your shell and approaching others. All the time you bring yourself to try something new, to learn or adjust… But all these out-of-the-comfort-zone experiences will be paid off. You gain new insights and inspiration every day. You learn a million of new things: neighborhoods, vocabulary, people and their way of life. You develop new skills and competences and you GROW with your challenges. Living abroad indeed pushes you forward!
So, if asking why your time abroad is the best chance to boost your personal development then I´m only asking back, “When else if not when living in a different country are you demanded to leave your comfort zone that often?”
Practicing THE SWITCH makes you flexible
The one thing that I regard as most exciting of living abroad is that you get in touch with different cultures. Meeting different cultures means to get in touch with different realities. To create understanding and successful communication with these realities you need to practice THE SWITCH and learn to see the world through the eyes of the others.
Through practicing the switch you not only gain new perspectives and insights about different cultures. You also become more flexible in mind, which helps you to see any situation, issue and also individual position from different viewpoints. This, by the way, is considered a top entrepreneur and leadership skill in nowadays business world…
You gain new brain connections
Speaking of diversity and mind: The different reality around provides you with uncountable new impressions. Especially when you are new to a country you can feel the difference right after stepping off the airplane: How the new place smells, what do you see and how the air, it´s temperature or humidity level feels. Not to speak of the emotions you sense inside yourself…
Your senses perceive many new impressions all the time and this has a wonderful effect on your brain. Every time we sense something new we create new neurological connections. Your brain grows and so do you. Studies among students have shown that those who studied in a diverse environment abroad developed more and more creative ideas. Living abroad makes you smarter!
Only then, you become more YOU.
You get to know yourself better
Living in a foreign environment and exploring different cultures helps you to get to know yourself better. Simply through getting in touch with a different system of values, you become more aware of your own cultural and personal setting. For example, what do you consider right and what you don´t. What works well for you and what is difficult to adjust to. This process of realization is a fascinating and mind opening process!
Knowing yourself and having a good connection to your inner voice is important if you want to develop further. You even may discover some hidden talents. But more often than not you will meet your personal limits. Which leads me to the next point:
Top reason: Living abroad triggers your “life topics”
When being far away from family and close friends you often find yourself being on your own. Being on your own easily triggers that what I call “life topics”. Topics that are part of your personality and that you have developed throughout your whole life, most of them in your childhood. These life topics do nothing else than showing where your current personal limits are. Then, when you most need to access your capabilities and strength at a time when you´re forced to develop and improve they can come up and ask for attention. And they can throw you quite off the course.
Sure, it is tough dealing with them: Overcoming long-cherished but destructive beliefs and working on smaller or bigger traumatic memories… But it is worth. Believe me, I´ve been through that, too. Only then, you become more YOU. Only then you can live the life you want and live it with courage and power – no matter where and how. Only then you can create YOUR vision and strike off to chase your dream. And only then you´ll find personal freedom, inner peace and a good connection.
As you can see, living abroad brings you a lot of benefits for your personal development. I believe that it is the best way to discover your hidden talents, to grow and to become the best version of yourself. So, don´t leave it to chance. Use the gift of living a global life and make the best out of it.
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