I'm what many people would call crazy.
I'm crazy because I quit my stable 9-5 job, sold everything I owned, launched my own business, and now travel solo all over the world. I'll never forget the incredulous look on people's faces when I shared my plan to ditch the cubicle and do my own thing. I was often asked, "but how in the world are you gonna make money doing that?"
That was my mindset coaching business, and believe it or not I've made more money this year than I used to make in 6 months at my corporate job. Everything I own fits in two suitcases, and I've never been more successful. If that's crazy, I'll take it as a compliment.
I credit much of my success to my traveling experiences, both now and 9 years ago when I backpacked France, Italy, Spain, and Greece solo at just 19 years old. Travel has challenged me physically, mentally, and emotionally. It's made me question my identity, my purpose, and my place in the world. It's transformed me into a woman who lives life on her own terms and doesn't settle for less than the what she truly desires.
Whether you're climbing the corporate ladder or dipping your toes into the world of entrepreneurship, traveling solo will up-level your life and career so quickly you'll be reeling from all of the breakthroughs.
Here are five ways solo travel can up-level your life and business:
1. Travel makes you more resilient to change.
On those days when you're wrangling luggage through the streets of Paris, asking for directions in very broken French, and you haven't peed in hours because you can't leave your stuff unattended, you have two options: wallow in self-pity or find a solution.
Solo travelers are extremely resilient, because there is no other option. When you miss your ferry and it was the last one running that day, you've gotta make a new plan and fast. There is no room for indecision. Being resilient and making decisions quickly will help you attract more golden opportunities and make more money than someone who overanalyzes and questions every little thing.
2. Travel challenges your world-view and perspective.
Being exposed to different cultures and ways of doing things will expand your perspective and boost your creativity like nothing else. You'll begin to realize that there is no right or wrong way to do things, but rather lots of possibilities for getting the same result.
This open-ness to new ideas and perspectives will help you brainstorm solutions to everyday issues in a flash. You'll be able to generate more ideas that could lead to your next big break financially.
3. Travel boosts your self-confidence.
There's something about being completely on your own in a foreign country that makes you re-connect to just how powerful and capable you really are without the buffer of everyday life. You appreciate your strengths on a new level, because you use them a lot more often. You make all the decisions instead of relying on others to make them for you. You become extremely self-reliant and own your independence in a way you never have before.
You no longer worry so much about what everyone thinks of you. You're completely free to be you, and it's amazing. You let go of relationships, patterns, and anything that's no longer serving you and you start pursuing only the things you're truly passionate about. You'll start attracting high-level people into your life who respect you and only want the best for you.
4. Travel expands your idea of what's possible.
The more you travel, the more you recognize just how much potential is out there waiting, untapped. You see people living their lives in a million different ways, and you see that what you desire really isn't all that crazy after all. You start dreaming bigger, allowing yourself to really "go there" when before it felt too impractical and out of reach.
Your mindset shifts and you're open to doing whatever it takes to create the life you really want. You see things on a more global scale and once that happens you know you can never return to the limited view you had before.
5. Travel gives you space to process.
As a solo traveler, you'll get more alone time than ever before and maybe that's a good thing. Without all the distractions, you're able to fully process past hurts, mistakes, relationships, you name it.
You'll finally be able to hold the space necessary to understand your patterns on a deep level and learn from your experiences. As you gain much needed closure and learn from past experiences, you energetically open the door to new opportunities and experiences in all areas of your life.
No matter where you are now, if you have a desire to travel make it happen. It's an investment in you, your dreams, and your future. Solo travel is not just a vacation from everyday life. It's a powerful container for up-leveling your life in every way imaginable.
Britny is a mindset coach for incredible women entrepreneurs ready to up-level their mindset, their impact, and their bank account like whoa. Her zone of genius is helping her clients bust through blocks like perfectionism, fear of success, and self-sabotage by showing them just how powerful they are without all the bullsh*t excuses holding them back.
Access her FREE 3 part training series Shift Just Got Real here. She's also hosting an exclusive and highly immersive mindset retreat Shift Just Got Real in Thailand in June of 2016.
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