Newsletters

Navigating the Festive Season as an Expat: Reflection, Connection, and Growth for the Year Ahead

Discover how expats can embrace the festive season with reflection, connection, and growth, blending traditions and planning a fulfilling year ahead.

Challenges of Life Abroad: Insights from the Community

Living abroad offers excitement but also challenges, especially for international professionals and their partners. This article explores key insights from a recent survey, highlighting the struggle to build social connections, maintain mental well-being, and navigate career and purpose in a new environment. It also discusses the interconnected nature of these challenges and invites readers to co-create solutions that empower expats to thrive both personally and professionally in their host countries.

Wintering: Embracing 'Winter' and making the best of shorter days

Embrace the shorter days and winter by slowing down, seeking light, nourishing yourself, enjoying indoor hobbies, and connecting with others to find warmth and renewal.

Why Not Reaching Your Full Potential Might Actually Be a Good Thing

Not reaching your full potential can reduce stress and improve well-being. Learn why embracing balance might lead to a more fulfilling, sustainable life.

Power and Responsibility: On Taking Over The Wheel and Using The Flow

From going with the flow and remaining in the victims role to taking over the wheel and using that power to navigate to where it matters and living life fully responsible for what happens.

Maximizing Your Expat Experience: My Lessons-Learned and 10 Pitfalls to Avoid in Your Life and Career Abroad

I am sharing with you below some of my lessons-learned, so you can avoid the same mistakes and navigate your expat experience in a much more enjoyable and stress-free way.

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July 31, 2024

Newsletters

Can Anyone Change? Neuroplasticity and Why Change is Possible!

Change is not only possible but also within everyone's reach, given our brain's neuroplasticity. Check out why, my 3 tips, and some examples with an expat, a taxi driver or someone with fear of public speaking.

Judgement versus Discernment: Can You Be a Good Judge?

As a child and teenager I heard my parents and friends say that I’d be a good judge more than once. As an adult what I learned is that being a good judge of people is not really about judgment but rather about discernment. ‍What’s the difference?

You Are Getting It Wrong! Why & How We Misjudge Success and What Truly Matters

We often misjudge what truly contributes to our well-being and sense of fulfilment. While we may believe that material possessions, wealth, or status are paramount for our happiness, scientific evidence indicates otherwise. Studies consistently show that subjective well-being is more strongly correlated with factors like strong social connections, meaningful relationships, and a sense of purpose or autonomy. However, these factors are often undervalued or overlooked in our decision-making processes.

Can you embrace your 'darker' side? Harnessing your negative emotions...

Life comes with its ups and downs (which I hope are never too low), and that means both positive emotions and those which we - unfairly - call ‘negative’ emotions. (...) The truth, is that these negative emotions serve as crucial signals which our minds and bodies use to navigate our life's challenges. Ignoring these signals bears a huge risk; dwelling and ruminating on them for long does too. We need to acknowledge the alert being given (notice it! what are you feeling?), and consider what type of constructive action is appropriate as a follow-up. So, let’s take a closer look at some of the most 'infamous' negative emotions (in no particular order), where they originate, when they're fitting, and how to harness them for positive outcomes.

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April 10, 2024

Newsletters

Happiness Explained! The PERMA+V model and Expats' Well-being

Expatriates and international professionals often face unique challenges and experiences associated with living in a different country which can hinder or enhance our well-being. Most of us have been told that happiness is what comes next, after we work hard to do a good job and progress in our career, get married to the love of our life, have kids (plural!), buy our house, look handsome or pretty... and, for women in the last few generations as well as men, after we become highly-educated and independent. Yet, for those who chose to live abroad, it feels like happiness is also related to showing others how that decision to go abroad (or yet another country) was wise - personally and professionally - and we've been successful as a result of it. Wrong, so wrong...

Are You Using Your Top (Expat) Strengths? 3 Tips to Get You Started

It is easy to recognise the common-sense notion that we will likely be more successful in life when we focus on our strengths rather than on our weaknesses. (...) While top character strengths are specific to each individual, I have often wondered if some of them tend to be more present in expats. (...) If you are just starting to explore the topic of character strengths, here are my 3 tips to get you started

Can you deal with (negative) feedback?

Dealing with negative feedback is a skill that can be developed over time, and which is influenced by our educational and cultural background and experiences. Check my tips for how you can best deal with negative feedback, whichever way it may be delivered to you.

Can you be ‘just happy’?

“You do not deserve happiness, you choose happiness. Happiness is natural. It is freely available to all. It is unconditional. And when we are unconditional about happiness, then happiness merely happens! Happiness happens, if you let it.” (...) Our 'work ethics', 'suffering ethics' and 'martyr ethics' are all limiting beliefs claiming that happiness must be earned, that it comes from suffering and that it is selfish. These would imply that more work leads to more happiness, people who do not suffer cannot be happy, and since being happy is taking away something from others, you should actually sacrifice yourself (your happiness) for them (for theirs). Historically as well as today, many cultures and religions are based precisely on these premises. (...) I am still chasing certain forms of success that are important for me, including in the professional domain. I have not reached all my goals, I am not yet living my desired lifestyle. In the meantime, I am already happy. I really am!

Is your 'other half' happy? [Expat Partners’ Dual Careers]

The majority of international professionals move abroad along with their accompanying partner or spouse (frequently also, with children). Yet, all the logistics and challenges of the settling in process can easily overshadow the importance of really creating time to reflect on how both your lives — including your partner’s life and career — are going to look like in that new country. Career considerations are a significant aspect of the expatriate experience for both the working spouse and the one accompanying.

Are you lacking Self-Discipline and Motivation?

Self-discipline is all about having enough motivation to follow through on your goals, and Motivation = Direction🔦x Energy🔋!

Can you trust your ‘gut feeling’ when making decisions?

Do you know what intuition is and how you can trust yours more? Learn more about it and get 4 tips for cultivating your Expert Intuition.

Rituals, the expat way! How do you celebrate important moments?

This reminded me of rituals and how important they can be in any society and culture. They suggest to us what is meaningful and valued in that context, though ‘tradition’ can often sweep in as an invisible source for shared activities that no one consciously accepted to follow. Rituals can include a wide range of shared practices, from exchanging rings, certain objects or gestures (ex: greetings), songs, dances, and (yup!) special food and drink. (...) Once you start moving across countries, and especially going across cultural borders, it can get quite messy to keep track of all your ‘new home’ rituals and still respect your original ones.

Mental Health is a Universal Human Right [WMHD2923]

10 October (2023), World Mental Health Day. Joining the efforts to demystify the topic and protect everyone who may - in the past, present or future - suffer from a mental health condition, I invite you to join this year’s campaign to recognise mental health as a universal human right! :)

How many friends does an expat need?

Creating new (no matter how small) social connections is essential when moving to a different country, whether with locals or other expats, so make sure you build and nurture enough your own support network.

Picture Or No Picture

I often advice my clients regarding how best to design their CVs and cover letters for specific vacancies they wish to apply to. One of the most frequently asked questions is about the photo. Should I include a profile photo in my CV or not? While the answer to this question is partially dependent on the country your vacancy is based on (there are a few cultural differences in the DO's and DONT's across countries when it comes to CVs), my answer is almost always an 'It depends'.

Can expats speak EQ-ish?

Talking about EQ is quite different than actually practising and increasing our EQ, and the challenge can be even greater for expats and professionals working across cultures and languages.

On Sleep 😴

On setting our priorities straight and respecting sleep time🌛 Some tips

On finding your sweet spot... or your Ikigai :)

Are you living in alignment with your Ikigai? Find out what it is and how you can get closer to it 😃

On Finding Your Path Among The Great Reshuffle

There have been a few new buzzwords in the last couple of years that are very relevant to all of us. First everyone seemed to be talking about 'the Great Resignation', with many surveys alerting to a massive 'quitting spree', given that anything from 40% to 75% of the workforce seemed to be actively planning to leave their current jobs for a better fit elsewhere. More recently, it has been 'the Great Reshuffle', [...]

Natália Leal

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September 1, 2022