Blaxit Global is supported in part by the generous donations of our Patreon subscribers. Our Patreon supporters get exclusive content, deals, and so much more. You can support the podcast by going to patreon.com/BlaxitGlobal. That's patreon.com/BlaxitGlobal.
I love all things audio, including audio books. As a mom, entrepreneur, and of course, world traveler, I find audiobooks are the best fit for my busy lifestyle. I still remember the first audio book I ever listened to Napoleon Hill's ‘Think and Grow Rich’ from Audible. Listening to that book caused a major shift in my thinking about money, career goals and relationships.
To this day, whenever I need a shot in the arm, I listen to that book. I love Audible because every month members get one credit to pick any title. Plus two audible originals from a monthly selection and so much more with thousands of titles to choose from audible is. Perfect compliment to feel your feelings of wanderlust. Blaxit Global podsquad, you can get started today with your 30 day free trial of audible. Visit audibletrial.com/BlaxitGlobal. That's audibletrial.com/BlaxitGlobal.
Close your eyes and imagine living a life you love unapologetic and unbothered. Free from daily microaggressions from Karen's and Ken's. Free from the fear of police brutality and systemic racism. Wouldn't that feel amazing? Now, open your eyes. What if I told you that it's possible? Hear inspiring stories and get the actual blueprints from brothers and sisters of the diaspora who are living out their wildest dreams abroad. You've heard the term now be inspired by the movement. I'm Chrishan Wright and this is Blaxit Global.
Episode 11 of the Blaxit Global Podcast.
Oh my gosh. What an incredible ride this has been. I continue to draw so much inspiration from those of you who are in the Blaxit Global community, whether you are following us on Instagram, in the Blaxit Global Facebook group, on our mailing list, or those of you who are subscribing to our YouTube channel every day. I am so renewed by every email, every DM, every comment, the energy is so positive and I work very hard to continue to cultivate positivity and inspiration and tangible, tangible things that you can do to help you on your Blaxit journey. So this episode, I'm going to recap a few takeaways that I've learned from our guests and share a little bit more about my personal journey in the hopes that it will help you in your personal journey.
So one of the things that I think is most powerful and you'll hear repeated in each story is mindset. Tapping into your limitless potential, identifying areas that you have opportunities for growth. That might come in the way of examining your beliefs about your limitless potential, believing that you can move abroad, believing that you can do so without a job. Believing that you deserve to live a life that is unbothered and unapologetic. So I want you to take some time, journal about those feelings and think about what it is that you believe. Do you believe that this is possible? Another area that I think is really helpful that I've learned along this journey is control.
There are so many things and a normal day as human beings on this planet that are outside of our control. Things that we may want to change, but we're not in a position to change. We can't change that there is a raging global pandemic. We can't change the fact that there is not a so far a peaceful transition of power in the White House, but what we can control are our emotions and how we respond to that. What we can control is taking the time to examine our personal finances, identifying areas that we can tighten up that will allow you to have more resources available for your move abroad. What you can control is your ability to research the places that you are thinking about to ask thoughtful and engaging questions, to help you in that journey. That will enable you to feel a sense of control and empowerment. That regardless of whatever else is going on on the outside, that you can't control, you have an ability to think and work your plan because a goal without a plan is just a wish.
And the third thing that I think I've taken away from this season is finding your passion. One of the things I know I've struggled with is finding where that passion and purpose meets that nexus. So whether you're thinking about starting a business abroad, retiring abroad, going to school abroad, or creating or finding a job abroad, when you listen to these episodes, I want you to think expansive.
I want you to think and sit in the land of possibilities. What are the things that you're passionate about? Are you passionate about writing? Are you passionate about travel? Are you passionate about creating opportunities for people like us in different parts of the world? I want you to think about the things that light you up and then try to imagine what that would be in your new place. So for me, I'm a visual learner and every year I do my goal setting and one of the things that I like to do at the end of the year, once I've set my goals is create a vision board. I find vision boards to be so incredibly helpful because it helps me to have a vision of a visual blueprint if you will of what inspires me so whether it's a word, whether it's an emotion whether it's image of money, it just reinforces the goals that I've set for myself so that I can keep it top of mind all the time. And shout out here to Lucinda Cross. I went to one of her vision board parties a few years ago, and it truly was life-changing because when I leaned in and I decided to go down this whole vision board path, I was able to accomplish everything that I had on that board. So I understand and truly believe in the power of vision boards and creating a vision for your life.
So let's talk a little bit about goal setting. Goal setting is so important each year. I take some time to set my goals, and then I also look at the goals that I wanted to accomplish for the current year.
So we all know 2020 is a bit of a dumpster fire in a lot of ways, but even in the midst of 2020 and how chaotic of a ride it's been, I have to say that there are certain things that I had set as goals for myself in terms of my Blaxit that pretty much I'm about 95% of goal. One of the things that I wanted to do was set a net worth goal. Each year, I set a net worth goal.
So for those of you who are not familiar with the net worth goal, it's looking at your assets minus your liabilities, and the difference is your net worth. So every year I try to think about how much do I want to improve my personal savings, my savings rate, and my investment portfolio from a stock market perspective, it's been much of a wild ride and while I am really happy that I improved my financial picture over the course of several years and a lot of hard work, I knew that one of the things that I needed to do for my Blaxit was hire a financial planner because I needed someone with a higher level of expertise and knowledge than my own.
I spend a lot of time reading blogs, listening to podcasts, going to the library and getting financial books in order to help me improve my financial knowledge and acumen. And that is so, so, so, so critical because you want to make decisions from a place of education. And the reason why it's so important to be educated is you are less likely to be taken advantage of.
So if there are terminologies, if there are things that are spoken, that you just don't understand, don't be afraid to ask those questions. I feel empowered when I go into my meeting with my financial planner, because I ask questions that people typically don't ask. One of the things that helped me also with this journey was that I tightened the belt on my expenses. I am pretty frugal as it is, but when I started to think about where I want it to be in three years, I made the decision to move to a smaller apartment. And then I further tighten the belt and looked at things like my phone plan or the fact that I'm not driving as much now, etcetera.
And taking that extra money and putting those into my savings because having them in my savings, having them grow will just enable me to be more successful from a financial perspective when I'm ready to make my Blaxit.
So on to a Q & A portion. I am so thankful to this community of thousands of you who are in the Blaxit Global community and special shout out here to Sharod for asking a few questions that I wanted to address in terms of my own personal Blaxit.
One of the questions is what will I miss most? I have to say one of the things that I will miss when I make my Blaxit is of course my family. I am so grateful to have the family that I have. I love my children. I have wonderful children and they are part of this Blaxit Global brand. My son is the musician behind the Blaxit Global theme song. My daughter is responsible for the Blaxit Global merch. So it's really a family affair and I truly am going to miss them. And definitely my mom, because that's my best friend. So I respect where they are in their own personal journey and it's not my place to try to convince them, it's to really enable them to feel comfortable enough to honor their own decision and really all I ask is that they be supportive of my journey which I have to say I'm pretty proud that my mom surprised me by turning around this year. And so she is fully supportive. And so I'll miss my family, I'll miss my brother, but I have to say we have technology and I stay connected to them when I'm traveling abroad normally on vacation so I don't think it's going to be a huge challenge from that perspective.
In terms of destination, I have to say I have changed my outlook, I think a little bit. New Zealand is definitely, definitely part of my Blaxit plan, but I do understand that by the time I do make my Blaxit in 2023 that I will be in this in-between stage, a little too old for a work visa and a little too young for a retirement visa.
One of the things that I did this year, as you guys know, I've been talking about it for several episodes, I invested in the move abroad master course. That was so helpful for me because I was feeling honestly deflated thinking that, Oh my gosh, I wanted to go to New Zealand and live there my whole life, and this might not happen. And so I am very grateful for Deirdra in helping me rethink my Blaxit strategy. And so for me, I think I'm going to be nomadic for a few years. My first destination will likely be Bali for a few months then my plan is to celebrate new year in Sydney, Australia because I've always wanted to celebrate new year's in Sydney, Australia. They tend to do it up there and then it's a two hour flight to New Zealand and I'll stay there as long as my visa will allow.
I will also want it to give some shout outs because there is so much that I'm grateful for in this season. I am so grateful to every guest that has appeared on the Blaxit Global podcast. You guys were willing to lean in and share your story with the hopes of inspiring and empowering people that you don't even know. And you were willing to bet on me to honor your story and so I am so grateful to every guest that has been on the show, and I'm also grateful for all the guests that I have lined up for season two.
This podcast would not have been possible were it not for Kimberly Sumpter. The beautiful, the talented, the woman that gives from her overflow. If you don't know Kimberly, you need to follow her ASAP. Kim is the host of the Sistahs Connect Podcast and the Sistahs Connect community. Kimberly is an amazing, incredible podcast coach.
She has coached me and poured so much into me. If you are even remotely thinking about creating a podcast, I highly, highly, highly recommend you get in touch with Kim. Kim is the coach and founder of Podcast to Empower. Her coaching program is so, so, so phenomenal. She will help you structure your show, get you started and nurture you on your podcasting journey.
So I have to tell you that Kim, I owe you so much, and I am so deeply grateful to have you not only as my coach, but as my friend and as someone who I value in my life, I want to give a special shout out and thank you to Victoria, our amazing moderator. Oh my gosh. You have been such a godsend and continuing to foster positivity in the group.
So I thank you so much for being such a wonderful human being and I am so grateful for your continued support. I also want to give a shout out to our amazing Patreon supporters. Your financial contribution to this podcast means so much to me from helping me to pay for the podcasting fees and other fees associated with running Blaxit Global, it helps so much.
So I am deeply grateful for your presence, your belief in this community and I am so grateful. So if you want to support Blaxit Global, I highly encourage you to go to our Patreon page - Patreon.com/BlaxitGlobal.
So I wanted to give a shout out here and read this wonderful review. They help so much because they fuel me. Believe it or not. There are days when there is shade thrown my way or a troll that tries to infiltrate the community or slides in my DM with a racist comment and that is challenging. So when I get an email or I see a review and a rating, it lets me know that my community is with me, that my community supports me. So in addition to making financial contributions to the Blaxit Global podcast, take it a step further and leave a rating and review. This is a review from Synolove:
“I love this podcast. Five stars. Blaxit yes. I love the tips and the life positive messages that encourage us to travel, live, repatriate, and thrive wherever our hearts lead us around this world. It is beautiful to have this space that is inspiring and loving. I am grateful to each of the guests and this black girl magic host that passionately pursues her purpose to light a path for each of us to live our best lives through business, travel and investing in ourselves. By connecting with our freedom and moving out of our comfort zone, we can live in beautiful serene places around this world and embrace the amazing life that is waiting for us.”
Thank you for that glowing review. I am so grateful for this community of thousands. I am so grateful to each of you and in this season, as we approach the holidays, that look a lot different than any holiday that we've ever experienced, I want you to know that I, and this community is still here. So take the time, get engaged with us, whether it's on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, send me an email. I want you to feel that you still have a connection. That is so important, particularly in this challenging time that we're faced with. I want you to know that I'm here, that our community is here and that we will help each other co-create the lives that we want. It is possible. So when are we coming back for season two? We have an incredible lineup for season two and season two will air beginning, January 4th, 2021
I want to leave you with this quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I often look at this quote and look back on it because it helps me to focus and to move forward, even when I am most fearful.
“Faith is taking the first step, even when you don't see the whole staircase.”
So I want you in this time, in this season...with the time remaining in this year... to take and make the steps that you need to in order to prepare your mind, prepare your finances, prepare your family and dream.
I want you to tap into that time and that spirit of when you were a little child and you had boundless imagination and nothing but opportunity that is still within you. So you can make that step, even though you cannot see the full staircase.
I will be back January 4th, with new episodes, with new stories, with more incredible expats. I invite you in this time in between to engage with us in the Blaxit Global Facebook group. Join us on Instagram and also subscribe to us on our YouTube channel where you can see our long play episodes of our video web series, The Sessions. I want to create as much information as much content out there to help you on your journey.
You can do this. I believe in you. I believe in me and we will get to the promised land.
Thank you for listening to the Blaxit Global Podcast. For more information on today's episode, be sure to visit our website at BlaxitGlobal.com. Has this episode left you feeling inspired to begin your journey, but not quite sure where to start? Download our free guide with the top five questions you need to ask before planning your Blaxit. You can find that under the resources tab of our website. Remember, it's not only possible to live out your dreams, unbothered and in full color.
It is your birthright.