March 22nd, 2018
Moving is insane.
It just is. No matter how epic the reason or how promising the outcome, picking up your life and plopping it down in a place that feels nothing like home sHaKes even the most resilient souls down to the core. How could it not?
In seconds, the concrete familiarities of your everyday life—your job, close friends, that shady-ass neighbor—are nonexistent.
Suddenly.
You find yourself standing in a strange place with a nail in one hand and a hammer in the other with an intense expectation to build it all up again.
And fast.
It’s hard.
And I completely get it.
Momentous moves are something I know pretty well. I’ve lived in 12 different apartments/houses, 4 different states, and 7 different cities. And even though I can say with absolute confidence each move altered my life for the better, I can also say the beginning of each journey felt lonely, weird, and confusing in every way.
So I devised a plan.
One that would make the whole shebang less scary AND expedite
my journey towards >>> a comfort zone.
Because if big changes are inevitably going to be stacked in my life queue?
They’re going to be on my terms.
And thus I give you, the plan:
6 Tricks To Conquering A Big Move
1. Say yes
A new co-worker or acquaintance invite you to a happy hour?
Go.
Saw an email about a weird club that kinda catches your interest?
Try it.
Friend of a friend of a friend of a friend invite you to a random friend’s party?
<< Rewind to any hobby, close connections, or new interests that have ever concocted your comfort zone. They all sparked from a place of bravery, and I’m here to tell you that THAT is still a rock solid plan.
And if you don’t like it? Don’t go again.
And if you do?
2. Pick favorites
Try a new coffee shop every week, check off a bucket list full of restaurants you heard were pretty damn good, scope out parks and shops outside of your neighborhood. Then, keep tabs on what you like best and go back as often as you can.
It’s a fantastic way to get to know your brand-new turf AND you’ll likely find a fierce burger, the greatest beer specials, and epic, hole-in-the wall gems along the way.
Because let’s face it, if you only ever go to 3 places total, you’ll be weighing your opinion of an entire city on the teeniest tiniest fraction of what it really has to offer. And that’s just outrageous.
3. Check your attitude
Moving is a mindset.
True, you physically haul your valuables from Point A to ———> Point B, but once the boxes are broken down, the furniture is kicked into place, and you’re done scooping beans out of can as a post-packing snack, this whole new world is 100% in your court, and how you react to it is too.
Listen to me because this is important:
You
and
ONLY YOU
have the power to make or break your experience.
It’s completely your choice to give new a place and different people a chance. No one else is responsible for making this work out. You chose this. So own up to it. You’re only doing a major disservice to yourself, or anyone else you may have moved with, by not giving it your all. A lackluster experience will happen if you don’t try.
So go the opposite route.
Consider your new stomping grounds a blank canvas, then go paint the town ridiculously red.
4. Visit/keep in touch with your ride or dies
At first, seeing or hearing from people who mean the most to you will hurt like hell.
It will. You’ll be out of your comfort zone so long your heart will swell and burst the second you’re in contact with the people who just fucking. get. you.
But.
It will also reset you—interrupt your streak of constantly trying to “prove yourself” and “find yourself” and trying to convince new folks that you’re “pretty damn neat”. Your hometown homies will be your salvation (as usual) be it mom, your doggo, or best friends. They’ll remind you just how awesome you are and send you back feeling vitally refreshed.
5. Host like hell
One tactic that’s really helped me fall deeper in lust and love with anywhere I’ve moved to is inviting people to visit (a lot) and showing them a hell of a time.
I shuttle my out-of-town crew to all my “favorite” places I discovered (thanks to trick #2)
And introduce them to new people I’ve met through trick #1.
Hosting far-away friends is the perfect way to put a fire under my ass so I can prove to myself AND to the people I dig just how far I’ve come.
And for my final trick:
6. Remember this:
If you don’t like it? You can leave. If you love it? You can stay. It’s as simple as that.
And until you decide, buckle up and start putting this incredible life change on your terms.
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