“You’ve been in different hubs and seen various approaches to building income. What patterns do you notice in how people approach passive versus active income? What works, what doesn’t?”
Many dream of living a digital nomad life, earning money while traveling or living in a new location. For many, this lifestyle remains a dream. Few end up trying, and even fewer end up making it a sustainable lifestyle.
In order to help you successfully pull off this lifestyle, I’m sharing my experience as both an online business owner and a contracted freelancer, from both my personal experience and observation of others.
What not to do:
It’s always good to get an idea of what not to do before doing something ourselves. And when it comes to being a digital nomad, it is worth knowing that many realize quickly that this lifestyle isn’t the dream that many people make it out to be.
I’ve seen a large group of remote workers burn out, primarily with active income: dealing with different time zones, finding it hard to find a balanced schedule and unable to enjoy their new environment fully.
It’s also easy to get too carried away in living the present moment and to be swept away in directionless crowds and pricey distractions. This short high almost always comes with a crash and pain to the future self.
What I’ve seen that works:
Those that survived and thrived managed both their finances, work/life balance, and healthily adapting socially to their new surroundings.
They were able to either pick up steady contract work that allowed for flexible hours (coding, writing, flexible marketing gigs) or they started their own online business that granted them passive income. These were the paths I used to live a balanced life that allowed me the freedom and time to find and pursue my passion of surfing.
However, you can’t go fully entrepreneurial without some proof or a foundation. I’ve seen many people run out of funds, failing to gain traction or maintain business to sustain their lifestyle. Before making the leap to travel, I took time to build my business to reach maturity and momentum.
It’s certainly possible to build a brand new successful business in a new location as I’ve seen several friends do, but this path is riskier and requires sufficient runway and capability that not everyone has.
Most importantly, everyone who ends up thriving in a new location has a strong level of self awareness in both their skills and their wants, needs, and thus why particularly they are in the city or country they’ve chosen to base themselves in.
So, success is all about balance and having a coherent plan that starts with a solid foundation in both yourself and your career or entrepreneurial skills.
Not everyone is ready today. There may be a gap in terms of current skills or finances, but you can always learn and save so you can reach your goals, as long as you make a commitment to start.
Start making your path to earning online money today
If you’re stuck in a job or location you don’t want to be in and you want to try being a digital nomad, remember that you don’t have to be there forever.
You can make a path out.
The first step is making a thorough assessment of your skills and financial goals. See what you have that you can work with, and make a plan to improve.
Once you do make it out, whether it’s for a month or a year, take this opportunity not just to shift your environment, but also your mindset. You can always positively change how you think about life and work in general. Sometimes it takes a new environment to facilitate this, but you’ll learn that you had the potential all along even before you left.
Make a plan to get out, and with time, the best path will reveal itself to fuel your dreams. Whether it’s a flexible job, freelance work, or a business of your own, the choices are abundant.
Don’t get overwhelmed with all of the opportunities and above all: believe in yourself!
