How to move a dream to a goal

How did you get started working overseas?

How can you live abroad?

How can you afford to travel to so many countries?

Questions that I get asked frequently.

 

For me, I began to realize I could live a different life-or a life of my dreams when I met someone who was on also radically changing her life.

In 2016, I met my friend, Linda, who introduced me to Minimalism.  Linda was selling everything she owned and had one focused goal….to live in Hawaii and earn a living of her dreams…deep underwater scuba diving.

I thought she was weird and cool at the same time.

I had NO idea what minimalism was.  So, I googled it.  I discovered a blog Becoming Minimalist by Joshua Becker.  And Zen Habits by Leo Babauta.

https://www.becomingminimalist.com/.

https://zenhabits.net/

I devoured the information and you know…..it resonated with me!  It made total sense.  I wasn’t happy with my stuff.  I wasn’t happy that I felt stuck.  I looked around at most people I knew.  They were all similar.  Work at a job that did not bring them joy.  Purchase stuff to temporarily try to find joy.  Surrounded by stuff that needs your space, your time, and your resources.

I decided to become weird and cool like Linda in such an awesome way.

I knew I had always wanted to sell everything I owned and move overseas.  This was a deep-rooted intuition that I would never allow to the surface of my feelings.  I realized I have a passion to travel and to learn about other cultures through experience.

That passion has been instilled in me at birth.  I get excited planning trips, packing my bags, and I am pure childish when I get to break out my passport and travel outside the USA.

I realized I owned my money and money did not own me.  I invested in stuff and not the overseas experience and joy I really wanted.

I read Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey and Your Money your Life by Vicki Robin.  My friends began to notice I was turning weird.

Read Total Money Makeover here:   https://amzn.to/2ZC8NLq

Read Your Money or Your Life here: https://amzn.to/2HR41Ur

I transferred to part time at my job.  I actively pursued finding joy in my work while selling and purging all my belongings.  eBay, Craigslist, Facebook for sale groups my friends thought I was going nuts.

I survived eight months with no large savings and no full-time job.

How?

I hustled by downsizing in a huge way.  I prefer the new term downshifting as it relays more of a mental shift not just a get rid of stuff shift.  I understood the big picture.   The more stuff I had the more I could not travel and that was holding my life back.  Holding back my life was no longer going to happen.

I hyper focused on my goals.  I sought out other hustlers.  Other weird cool people.  And I found them!

My goal of finding joy in my work was narrow focused.  It was way too small.  I understood that my larger goal was to live internationally while finding joy in my work.  In this process I remembered something I had temporarily forgotten…I am goal driven.  I am lost without goals.  I am horrible without direction.  The course can change anytime but I have to feel as if I am moving to a goal.

So, I set a date for my transition.  Five months away.  I had obligations for the next five months.

I created a vision board out of a white board.  I wrote down the date of my last obligation….

02/16/16

I had NO idea where I was going, but I knew I was moving.

I set my goals….

-Live and work outside of the US.

-Save money for retirement.

-Do work that brings me joy.

-Learn and grow in experience of other cultures.

While reading You are a Badass , by Jan Sinero, I understood that moving forward even when you didn’t have a direction is beneficial.  Just move forward!  Trust your intuition and inner guidance.  It knows.

Read You are a Badass here: https://amzn.to/2MPeio7

That month, a friend of mine posted a photo on Facebook.  He was working overseas as a contractor in a community.  I had no idea contract jobs were inside communities abroad!  So, I began the process of becoming an overseas contractor.

On 02/19/16, I landed in Kwajalein Atoll, The Republic of the Marshall Island, starting my journey to my ideal life.  Meeting the dreams that were inside of me.  Three days after the date on my vision board.

If I can do it, you can do it!!

Want help along your way?  Contact me today.  I will be the weird cool one supporting you!

Live, Love, and Inspire!

P.S.  If you use any links on my page I get a small portion of proceeds to help me inspire you along your journey.  Thank you!

Welcome

Hello there! Welcome to my blog.

My name is Angel and I am here to inspire you to do something you thought you couldn’t do.

Why?

Because I didn’t think I could reach my dreams. Until one day…I pushed past what was holding me back.

And now….

I am here to inspire you. You can create what you dream. If I can do it…you can do it too!

But wait…who are you?

I am just a person like you. I had a long term career dedicated to the service of others. I had big dreams of doing MORE with my life. But I held myself back.

I jumped off the hamster wheel and never looked back!

Can you relate?

Life is short.

Life is a paragraph, a page, a chapter, and more than one book.

We will chat about what inspires you, leaning forward, personal development, and leadership.

Join me!