Mine Your Resources Goes Nomadic in 2009

So you might have been wondering why I’ve been a bit quiet lately... for those of you who are familiar with Martha Beck’s model of the change cycle, I’ve been in what’s known as the “meltdown” phase, retreating into my cocoon to re-evaluate what’s really important and to let the old (although lovable) caterpillar of my life meltdown, so that the new, more liberated version can begin to form. Since confusion, anxiety, tiredness, mild depression and even periods of mental paralysis are the primary states of mind during the meltdown phase, I followed my own advice and spread myself a little less thin over the past few months. Having spent a few months carrying out some mental spring-cleaning, finding some key beliefs that are no longer useful for me, and gradually dissolving them one at a time, I’ve created the space and clarity for a new vision to form... so here it is:

Modern Nomads:
My husband, Andy, and I have both always loved travel and spent many mornings in bed, building sand-castles in the sky and hatching plans for the many different places we’ll travel to and through. For some time we’ve talked about the idea of traveling the world doing the work we love to do, but so far we’ve only done part of it - either the traveling part or the work we love part, never both. Our new, liberated butterfly lifestyle: to be modern nomads, traveling the world AND doing the work we both love. We’ve already taken the leap and committed to our new vision. Last month Andy left for London, where he’s setting up fort for us. And I’ve stayed to tie up some of my corporate coaching contracts and pack up our lives in Cape Town. I leave for London on 9 December, where we’ll be based and working from, until June 2009, when we’ll hop on 2 motorcycles and tour Europe for a few months. After that we’ll look to continue moving around, being based somewhere for 6 to 9 months, and traveling extensively in between, before moving onto the next “base camp.”

Why?
Great question! And a really important question to ask many, many times during the meltdown and re-formation phases, so that you can question and dissolve your fears and ensure that you’re aligning yourself with your true desires and values, rather than just following a plan that looks good on paper or fits the societal mold. So here’s why we’re doing it:

• We both love travel - especially the traveling part. For some people, travel means going to an exotic place and staying there for a few weeks, then returning home. The traveling we like to do involves touring countries, devoting much of our time to the actual journeying. We like to choose the quiet, little, winding roads, and take the long way getting there.
• We both love change. Andy’s a revolutionary - he enjoys major change every 6 months or so. I’m an evolutionary - I like major change every 2 to 3 years, with gradual change on a daily basis in between. We really love the stimulation of starting new projects, meeting new people, or experiencing new places, and we get a little edgy if we don’t get a regular fix of it.
• We both see work as an expression of ourselves, and it’s a priority to both of us that we’re doing the work we love. Before, when we couldn’t see how we could do the work we love and travel at the same time, doing the work we love was our higher value and we sacrificed our travel desires. Now we’re going for both.
• We’re both really excited about taking the opportunity to further develop our skills and knowledge in our respective fields by being involved in training, conversation and collaborative partnerships with experts all over the world who we’ve been following over recent years.
• It’s no longer that difficult to do the work you love whilst living a nomadic life. Outsourcing and working with people on other continents is now pretty common practice because we have the technology to facilitate this.

So what about my coaching?
It seems that the belief “you can’t do the work you love and travel the world” is a very common one, because alot of the time when I tell people I’m heading off for London in December, they say, “Oh, what a shame... your business has been doing so well here.” So then I explain how I’m not closing my business, and I’m not moving it to London either - I’m making it LOCATION INDEPENDENT. Since one person responded by asking, “Is that like a politically correct term for being homeless - like being location-challenged?” let me explain: basically what it means is that I want to be able to do the work I love doing from anywhere in the world, without the geographic location of me or my clients limiting us in any way. Since I love travel, I want to be able to move around without starting all over again, and I want my clients to be free to do them same, and to continue to be able to offer them value wherever they are in the world.

So here’s a taste of some of what you can look forward to from Mine Your Resources in 2009:

• a re-vamped, new-look, easy-to-use weblog (at www.myr.co.za) with much more regular postings
  
• group teleclasses
• the first of a series of multi-media coaching programs, which I’ll be completing for release in the new year.
• a book club where I’ll review and recommend some of the most useful personal development literature
• look out for podcasts and short videos I’ll be posting on YouTube
• a variety of personal development products from some of the world’s leading coaching, leadership and personal development experts, which I’ll be recommending and making available for purchase online.
• One-to-one coaching is still available by telephone or Skype (find me at Skype: mineyourresources). I will be keeping my South African rates for my South African clients for now.

The next year will be a very busy and exciting one for us, and I hope to be able to share our experiences and learnings with you along the way. Please keep me updated about your adventures next year too, and warn your London/ European family and friends that I'm heading over! You can connect with me on any of these platforms:

Twitter
Facebook
Xing
Huddlemind
LinkedIn
ecademy
Business Network Online