Moving for Good

Moving for Good

By Derek Sivers

You are the way you are because of what you’ve experienced(ikˈspi(ə)rēəns).

Your country, family, town, random circumstances(-stəns,ˈsərkəmˌstans), and friends shaped the way you think. If you grew up on the other side of the world, you would have a different set of values and thought(THôt) patterns.

But if you keep experiencing the same things, your mind keeps its same patterns. Same input, same response. Your brain(brān), which was once curious(ˈkyo͝orēəs) and growing, gets fixed into deep habits. Your values and opinions(əˈpinyən) harden(ˈhärdn) and resist(riˈzist) change. If you don’t flex(fleks), you lose your flexibility(ˌfleksəˈbilətē).

You only really learn when you’re surprised(sə(r)ˈprīzd). Unless you’re surprised, everything is fitting into your existing thought patterns. So to get smarter, you need to get surprised, think in new ways, and deeply understand different perspectives(pərˈspektiv).

With effort, you could do this from the comforts of home. But the most effective(iˈfektiv) way to shake things up is to move across the world. Pick a place that’s most unlike what you know, and go.

This keeps you in a learning mindset. Previously(ˈprēvēəslē) mindless habits, like buying groceries(ˈgrōs(ə)rē), now keep your mind open, alert(əˈlərt), and noticing new things. New arrivals(əˈrīvəl) in a culture often notice what the locals don’t. (Fish don’t know they’re in water.)

Don’t think of yourself as visiting. Say that you’ve moved here, and mean it. Commit. Immerse(iˈmərs). Go native.

Form deep friendships with locals. Ask lots of questions. Ask them to explain things, and show you how it’s done. When they state(stāt) a fact, ask how they know. When they state an opinion, ask for examples.

At first, their values and methods will feel wrong. You’ll feel the urge(ərj) to tell them how it could be better. (Meaning: more like what you know.) But try to understand a perspective(pərˈspektiv) where they are right, and you are wrong. Eventually you’ll realize that your beliefs were not correct(kəˈrekt) — they were just the quaint(kwānt) local culture of where you grew up. You are a product of your environment.

Every country has a shared and working philosophy(fəˈläsəfē). Dive(dīv) in and really try to understand it. This is one of the best things you can do for your brain. Stay immersed(iˈmərs) at least(lēst) until you feel yourself saying “we” instead of “they”.

Then, if you want to keep your brain actively learning and growing forever, keep moving across the world and immersing like this for the rest of your life.

(I wrote this for Tynan’s new book “Forever Nomad(ˈnōˌmad)”, so please buy his book if you like this subject.)

https://sivers.org/mfg