This has always been a problem for me, I'm very huge on waiting and then doing a bunch of shit in the mean time because I'm bored.
The problem is twofold:
1. I keep creating stuff that I don't care enough about. Thus it doesn't get the love it deserves and after a while starts looking bad on my "permanent record".
2. Because I keep being busy with things, the thing I'm waiting for keeps getting pushed back.
This sucks and I often try very hard to avoid this problem. One thing I've started doing is that whenever I get an impulse to say "I have to wait for X", I try to understand why I'm waiting.
if I can't come up with a really good reason (for instance, because the market/tech opportunity for project X isn't there yet, or maybe I simply can't fit another X into my life), then I shelf X for a while.
My biggest X is "move out of country". The reason for waiting is I don't have enough money saved up for a buffer to tie me over possible/probable dips in freelancing income. I think this is a good enough reason for waiting.
This is not necessarily helpful, but consider eliminating "wait" as a thing you can do. If it is true you cannot leave the country due to financial constrains and you do not wish to do it as a result, then stop waiting to leave.
Now your focus can be re-targeted to doing -- so long as it's not doing waiting. It sounds like you have freelancing aspirations. Perhaps something worth doing is building a solid social network with a referral program. A bonafide consultancy. You may still want to go to another country, but you aren't waiting to do it -- you are starting a consultancy.
There may come a day when you see the financial success you set out for. You'll note you want to leave the country, so you will book a ticket for next week and set up an apartment. You'll just do it.
Semantically, you still waited. Mentally, you took action -- so there was no negative fallout usually associated with waiting. Always commit fully to your present task, do not let the delusion of waiting creep in and breed complacency.
It's what I am trying, at least... human nature does have a lot of exploits.
As I've explained to jacquesm ... while I "wait" to leave the country, I'm spinning up a freelancing business to the point where it's a reliable income stream so I don't find myself in a situation where I take on jobs out of desperation.
But this is a matter of perspective. Ask my mum and she'll tell you I'm a bohemian idiot who doesn't want to get a regular job and dicks around on his computer all day.
> The reason for waiting is I don't have enough money saved up for a buffer to tie me over possible/probable dips in freelancing income. I think this is a good enough reason for waiting.
There are always plenty of reasons for not doing stuff, but life is made up of the stuff that you do, not of the stuff that you postpone.
There is a song (in French) about a guy that his whole life long wants to go see the gulf of Mexico, and on his dying bed his wife tells him 'If you'd have had any guts you would have gone there to see it'. It's a pretty rude ending to an otherwise perfectly sweet song but there is a grain of truth in there.
You're young, fairly talented. You could likely land anywhere and make it, and even if you don't it'd be a fantastic adventure and you'll be smarter and with a broader horizon regardless of the outcome. I've moved countries several times and likely will do so again at some point in the future so this is not me telling you how it could work in theory. It can work. It can work for you too.
One way in which you could finance your move is by working free-lance for companies via the net. I know a few people doing this right now and they can pretty much work from anywhere in the world. Enjoy your freedom while you're still mobile, young and healthy.
> One way in which you could finance your move is by working free-lance for companies via the net. I know a few people doing this right now and they can pretty much work from anywhere in the world. Enjoy your freedom while you're still mobile, young and healthy.
That's exactly what I'm going to do! But doing it in a situation where any delayed payment means I can't afford to buy food is just irresponsible and borderline stupid.
So really I'm not so much waiting as I am spinning up a freelancing business and getting it to a point where it's a somewhat reliable income stream and making sure I don't find myself in a situation where I have to take on jobs out of desperation.
Desperation builds character and drives innovation, I've learned more in my desperate times than I ever have in my stable times... in fact often those are the times I miss the most. Do what's smart for you of course, but if you don't have any dependents going into a situation beyond your current capacity is a great way to expand that capacity. Also if you've starved due to lack of money to buy food then food tastes sweeter for the rest of your life.
>One way in which you could finance your move is by working free-lance for companies via the net. I know a few people doing this right now and they can pretty much work from anywhere in the world.
What exactly do they do as freelance work? Building mobile apps, websites? Where can I get to know more about this?
The problem is twofold:
1. I keep creating stuff that I don't care enough about. Thus it doesn't get the love it deserves and after a while starts looking bad on my "permanent record".
2. Because I keep being busy with things, the thing I'm waiting for keeps getting pushed back.
This sucks and I often try very hard to avoid this problem. One thing I've started doing is that whenever I get an impulse to say "I have to wait for X", I try to understand why I'm waiting.
if I can't come up with a really good reason (for instance, because the market/tech opportunity for project X isn't there yet, or maybe I simply can't fit another X into my life), then I shelf X for a while.
My biggest X is "move out of country". The reason for waiting is I don't have enough money saved up for a buffer to tie me over possible/probable dips in freelancing income. I think this is a good enough reason for waiting.