From time to time, we might start to question our surrounding environment. Just what has brought you here, to the place that you are now? Is it convenience? Were you born here and just stayed, quite content to do so? Did you move for a job or university course, only to stay rooted to said area afterwards?
Not all decisions need to be made by following your highest truth and ambition – sometimes, you might simply enjoy where you live and hope to stay there. Sometimes, such as moving to LA or London, your career path will require it.
However, sometimes we may wish for a full change of pace, to move our anchor somewhere else and start to live life on the terms that we choose, not where fate brings us. It’s when you decide this that you start realizing the incredible amount of options available to you. But first, it’s important to weight up those pros and cons beforehand, to ensure you’re making the right decision.
What might that look like for you? Let us explore this together:
The Carrot & The Stick
In many practical applications of life, such as motivating employees, achieving your goals or simply setting any form of target you wish to reach, it’s essential to consider how the carrot and stick can help you there. This phrase is part of a well known fable, but is also conventional wisdom. In order to make a horse move forwards, you must use a stick to strike their buttocks with, and a carrot to lead them forward.
We can use this to represent how something might be pushing you forward, while also pulling you towards it. For example, let us consider someone recovering from an alcoholic lifestyle. Their personal stick would be the fear of falling into their old habits, and the lifestyle they want to be rid of. This will motivate them to decline whenever someone offers them a drink, or when walking straight past a bar. The carrot on the other hands is the thing you want to head towards, such as a sober life with sober, loving relationships, the ability to save some money and be part of a beautiful family, without the wet blanket of addiction around your shoulders. It’s when these two things are combined that we realize our proper path forward, and have more energy to that end.
What does this mean? Well, finding your own carrot and stick can be worthwhile when trying to figure out the pros and cons of moving. Sometimes, the stick is much bigger than th carrot, and that might signify that you’re willing to move at all costs despite not really planning out the ideal life you wish to lead. Sometimes, an oversized carrot can lead you to think that the grass is much, much greener, while ignoring the potential downsides of moving, or the incredible experience you have in your current environment.
We would recommend diligently considering what these are, and trying to figure out how important they are to you. Over time you will be able to consider the scales of balance in one direction or the other. You might decide to move abroad, heading far away to a wonderful place, such as moving to Sydney, or you may decide to stay at home and simply try and make things better. No matter what you choose – you will have made the most informed decision.
Understanding ‘Settling Time’
It’s easy to make the mistake of imagining everything is going to be just peachy when you move. Perhaps you’re moving for a job, or for an education. It could be that you have to start from the ground up. You will also need to make an entirely new friendship circle. This takes time to grow, and you cannot force any of this to happen. On top of that, settling into a new place or becoming comfortable in a new culture could take some time.
Does that mean that you should give up on the whole plan? Absolutely not. In fact, being more aware of this can help you plan your days much more comfortably. You might make more of a direct effort to get involved in your social hobbies while moving, or even start planning your renovation of a house you’re about to move to. When you factor in ‘settling time,’ which you will have to experience in any capacity, you can lessen the anxiety you might have otherwise added to your ‘con list’.
Remaining Hopeful
Remember – if you want to move, it’s often led by a real reason. It’s rare that someone wishes to go through the ordeal of finding a house, selling a house, traveling, getting settled and restarting in an area simply on a whim. It’s important to make an informed decision, perhaps the most important thing of all. But you do have to be careful that being as informed as possible doesn’t quite kill all of your ambition when moving.
It might be that a place you are considering for a new job has a 5% higher crime rate each year according to current statistics. However, you have a real upwards potential at this new job, and the schools in the district are much better than where your child attends now. Remaining hopeful and optimistic can help you consider the best of the situation you could make, and will motivate you to achieve that. It’s okay to feel excited towards moving somewhere without having absolutely every single variable known to you ahead of time, because that would be impossible to do in the first place. And, without this positive energy to help you move to the next stage of your life, you do risk the potential of being dismissive with your goal setting and potentially even calling the whole thing off.
With this advice, we hope your interest in moving for a better life is cared for, and well considered. You deserve the life you choose, after all.