70) The 5 C's Framework to Make Your Life Unrecognizable ( as a digital nomad + so much more!)

How did I go from this burnt-out, corporate girly, who was seasonally depressed, crying after work, and being bullied by her co-workers and who felt unhappy and unfulfilled in my life and having to ask for permission to travel, to living life where I am now? And now my life is completely autonomous, freedom-focused, and self-made. I live life as a successful digital nomad, where at this point I have traveled to 65 countries and have my dream house in Bali. So today, let's dive into the 5 C’s framework that you can follow to make your current reality change and have your life become completely unrecognizable whether it be in your job, relationships, fitness, or your goal to become a digital nomad.
 
 Journal these questions:

• What would an absolutely dream day look like for you?
• If you had your own business that you were doing fulfilling work and making the money that would feel really satisfying for you, where would you go? What time would you wake up?
• What clothes would you be wearing? What would the weather outside be like? Who would be around you? 
• What kind of environment would you be working from? What would you be doing after work?
• What would you be doing on the weekends? And also, most importantly, what would you not be doing? And what would you not be feeling? And if you're not doing those things and you're not feeling that thing, what's the opposite of how would you feel? 

Chapters

• 4:46 Where I started vs. Where I am now
• 17:00 The First C
• 30:28 The Second C
• 43:52 The Third C
• 1:00:01 The Fourth C
• 1:18:06 The Fifth C

Transcript

Christa: [00:00:00] Hey there and welcome to the Digital Nomad Life podcast. I'm your host Christa, also known as @christabellatravels on social media. Follow me there if you want to follow along my digital nomad journey. If you are listening to this episode this week when it's coming out, I am just, I think, two weeks into a 10 or maybe even longer week adventure and I am just having the best time.

Christa: And Do you know what really has been so fun about this trip is the contrast because I'm going home and I'm visiting my family and I visited New York City where I used to live and I'm also on this like really amazing nomad journey where I'm going to all these amazing destinations and for me, I just, I've been so acutely aware.

Christa: of the contrast of what my life used to be to how it is now and that's why what has inspired this episode today is I want to share with you a model that I have been following [00:01:00] for basically the past 10 years which has completely changed my life so that's why this episode today is called the five C's that will make your life better.

Christa: unrecognizable and help you become a digital nomad. I'm assuming if you're listening to this podcast, you probably are wanting to become a digital nomad or maybe you already are a nomad and you're just looking to maximize your nomad life. Either way, if you know my style, you know that I am huge on personal development, and I just think that there's always room for growth.

Christa: There's always room for improvement, and we should never, ever, ever stop striving to grow or strive to improve. The human potential is just actually limitless. And for me, this is what gives me such a zest for life. Like there's just always room for more. And I don't mean more in a consumerism materialism kind of way.

Christa: I'm not saying that I don't like to spend money. I love to spend money [00:02:00] on nice things. I love flying business class now and, I love material wealth. Uh, that is something that's relatively new for me that I love. Um, but it's not really about that, right? Like I'm not trying to grow just to make more money.

Christa: I'm trying to grow to see how big can my life get. And I think that people who are, have a desire to become digital nomads also have that curiosity of like, okay, I'm living this life now. But. What could it be? How could my life be if I were more free? If I didn't have to always follow the rules that society has given me, what if I could be more authentic?

Christa: What if I could be more satisfied in my career? What if I could have more meaningful relationships? What if I could have more people around me? who resonate, who match my frequency? Just honestly, the possibilities are limitless. What if you could go to more [00:03:00] places in a year? Okay, so if you don't know me, I'm going to give you a little introduction about myself.

Christa: And I'm also going to share with you that contrast so you can really see where I started versus where I am now. I'm a huge believer and a major advocate for this concept that you should never take advice from someone who's not living the life that you want to live. I mean, okay, never say never, but at the same time, you know, I think that, uh, So often people and myself included, right?

Christa: When I say people, I'm, I'm always referring to myself. My whole vibe is that I am just, I'm just a walking experiment basically. And I've fucked up a lot. And, um, definitely I have been living a life in my past that I wasn't super satisfied with. So when I say people, I'm also referring to myself very humbly.

Christa: Okay. People.

Christa: Often tend to look outside of themselves for the [00:04:00] answer. And sometimes when we are only around people who don't Quite have the same kind of goals or aspirations as us, or when we are around people who have done life in a specific way that's not fully aligned with what our hearts are asking us to do.

Christa: We end up taking advice from people who aren't really the most relevant people to be giving us that advice. So I wanna share with you my story so that if you wanna take advice from me, you know. that I'm a relevant person. And if you listen to my story and you're like, nope, unrelatable, then you know what?

Christa: You can listen to this with a grain of salt and take with you what makes sense for you personally. I'm all about authenticity. And I just want you to check in with yourself always and be like, Does this resonate with me? Yes or no? Okay. All right. Okay. Let's talk about where I started versus where I am now.

Christa: And then we'll get into how the five C's took me from there to here. So [00:05:00] where I was, um, no, you know what? I want to start with where I am now because that's way more fun. And then, and then you'll really understand the contrast. Okay. So I am currently filming this episode in a beautiful little island in the Mediterranean called Ibiza or Ibiza.

Christa: Maybe you've heard of it. Um, it's just a, it's a famous party island, but that's not the only reason why I'm here. I do love to party, I love to have fun, um, I'm a huge film lover, I'm a huge dancer, but also I love the hippie side and there's this island just has this really cool contrast of, uh, you know, the, the dark and dancy side as well as the light, light hippie nature loving, uh, Yeah.

Christa: Bohemian side. So, and I have a good friend who lives here, which is amazing that I have a good friend who lives here because I actually have friends all over the planet. Like pretty much there's if I choose any country that [00:06:00] I want to go to, if I don't already have a friend that lives there, I'll definitely have a friend that's close by that will be like, yeah, I'll just call you.

Christa: pop by and visit you. So I actually rarely ever travel by myself. Usually when I travel, I'm with people that I just absolutely adore. So I'm here in Ibiza with my friend Lila, who's giving me the local tour. And before this, I was just in the Hamptons for Labor Day weekend. And if you don't know the Hamptons, if you've ever seen the show Gossip Girl, it's basically where all these, um, yeah, fancy private school people go party.

Christa: on the weekends, on the summertime. So I was out there living my best life for a major holiday weekend in the U. S., Labor Day. Um, and before that I was in New York City, which is where I used to live. Um, and now I'll talk about my previous life. in a minute, but I also think it's worth noting that I'm on a trip right now where my normal home is [00:07:00] Bali.

Christa: Um, I live on a tropical island in the South Pacific and yeah, it's also just as beautiful for me, dream destination. I always used to dream of living in a place where there were palm trees and white houses with orange roofs and coconut trees and banana trees and, And surf culture around and yeah, I like basically every day I get to prioritize my fitness.

Christa: Like my general schedule is that I wake up at maybe eight to nine. I have a leisurely morning if I don't have a call with my clients. I chill. I usually go to the gym around 10, 11, 12, whenever I feel like it. I work out. Usually I go sit by the beach and have a coffee and a lunch and then I'll open up my laptop at a cafe by the beach.

Christa: I'll work until around sunset. Then I'll take my dog for a walk around sunset. I'll wave hi to my friends that I usually pass by on the beach because I have other friends that live there too. Obviously I've lived there for like four years and then I go back home to my beautiful three bedroom [00:08:00] villa where I have a pool and a beautiful view of a volcano in the distance and Anyway, it's just really, really a magical life.

Christa: I'm so satisfied with my life. You can listen to my last episode and hear all about, about that too. Um, okay, so now let's talk about where I was which is not this. And I was just really keenly reminded of where I used to be in life because I was just visiting. So I grew up in Boston, Massachusetts, um, a very academic kind of place where we have very cold, very harsh winters, um, which I just, for me, I'm just not a winter girly.

Christa: I actually avoid the winter at all costs now. I literally haven't seen the winter in, like, I don't know when was, I think the last time I was home for the winter was like 2019 for like a week. Um, anyways, uh, grew up in Boston, went to school there and then, yeah, basically growing up in the environment [00:09:00] that I grew up in, I really believed that the quote, only way to do life properly was to.

Christa: Get a good grades in high school, and then go to college, finish college. And then get a nine to five job that was respectable. Something that when I was at a cocktail party, I could tell people what I do. And then I could feel really proud of it. Like people would be like, wow, she is smart. Wow. She is successful.

Christa: And so that is what I pursued. You know, I went to, um, I went to UMass Amherst, shout out to all my minute men. If anybody out there is listening to that, I went to UMass and then, As soon as I graduated, I just worked my ass off to move to New York City because I always wanted to travel when I was younger.

Christa: But I was like, how can I travel and also have this career that I quote, must have? So I was like, well, at least if I moved to New York City, that's like a cool destination. I can kind of live this sex in the city life and [00:10:00] wear cute outfits to work like pencil skirts and heels.

Christa: And I can go to happy hour and then New York City is so diverse that it's kind of like traveling when I'm there. And I was like, yeah, I could meet international people in New York City because I also always wanted to have international friends. I don't know why that was just something I like really, really wanted when I was younger.

Christa: So I moved to New York City and somehow I didn't really end up meeting that many international people. I think that just kind of happens when you're in the country that you're from. Like you just, you end up meeting other people from your nationality. And I did have this sex in the city life, by the way.

Christa: And I did have this job that I could tell people at cocktail parties, Oh, I work in public relations. And I got to do that. Oh yeah, I work at this agency. And I got to tell people that. And I did get to wear pencil skirts and heels to work. And I did all of that. And do you know what? was not great about that was every single day.

Christa: My feet were freaking killing me. My boss would be so mad if any girl in our office showed up to her, showed up [00:11:00] to her meetings without heels on. And it turns out that my office was kind of this like devil wears Prada situation. If you've ever seen that movie, basically just like an incredibly toxic environment where everybody was so catty.

Christa: And, um, I never saw the freaking sunlight. I realized this, the other day when I was in New York City, I was walking around and I noticed that half of the street was in the shadow of the building and the other half was sunny. Okay. I had this moment when I was working in New York City where I was like, Oh no, something is wrong here.

Christa: Because I started specifically taking my lunch break. only after 1 30 because between the minutes of 12 45 and 1 15, the sun would stream down onto my desk and I wanted to be able to bake in the sun for that half hour that the sun was there because I didn't get to be in the sun any other minute of the day.

Christa: I would leave my dark apartment

Christa: [00:12:00] And the subway was across the street so I'd walk, you know, in the shadow of the building to the subway. I'd go underground in this gross, hot, loud, smelly subway where everybody around me was like looking at their phones, looking miserable, not talking to anybody, not smiling. And then I'd come up out of the subway, I'd still walk under the shadow of the building into my office that again, never received enough natural light because the buildings in New York City are so tall.

Christa: And basically, I had these moments when I was in New York that I was looking around and I was just like, people here don't seem happy. And actually the final story before I get into the five C's, I remember there was a little bit of foreshadowing on what was to come because it was my first day after work at my first job in New York and I was walking home and I was like, this is so cool.

Christa: I get to walk home. Just like a real city girl. And I popped into a shoe store and this man was like, Hey, how are you? Like, where are you from? And I'm so proud. I'm like, Oh, I live here. And he's like, you're not from here. [00:13:00] And I was like, well, I mean, I just moved here. How do you know? And he was like, you're not from New York.

Christa: You're smiling too much. And that's what he said. And I remember being like, Oh God, like, why don't people hear a smile? Anyway, a few years later, I obviously realized I was one of those people that was never smiling. And I just really actually felt like there wasn't a way out. I remember always scrolling through social media being like, Who are these people that are living this travel life?

Christa: Like, I don't understand. And, you know, I thought that I was going to get to travel because I was in travel public relations. And I just, I don't know. I had 10 days vacation per year and they didn't always get approved. And I always had to ask for permission. And basically about 10 years ago, I got to this point where I was like, This is actually not okay and I just have to admit to myself that I am unhappy and I'd be leaving work crying all the time and that is what my life [00:14:00] was.

Christa: That's what my life was. Now contrast that to again today where I get to wake up when I want. I get to surround myself with people that I want. I get to go to any country that I want. I get to eat whatever I want. I get to be in the sun as much as I want. And I get the sun all the time. And I get to wear whatever I want.

Christa: I get to be comfortable and cute. And just like, it's just, it's so, it's un, my life is literally unrecognizable.

 So, you may be wondering, how did I get from where I was, which is this burnt out, corporate girly, seasonally depressed, crying after work, being bullied by her co workers, unhappy, unfulfilled in my life, having to ask for permission, always wanting to travel, having no idea how I was going to be able to do it, no direction.

How did I go? From that to being a completely autonomous, freedom focused, self made, successful digital [00:15:00] nomad, where at this point I have traveled to 65 countries in the next couple of months. I'm going to make it to a few new places that I've never been before, including Alaska, Vancouver, Japan, maybe South Korea, maybe the Philippines, I'm not so sure, before heading back to my home base in Alaska.

Bali. Um, how did I go from that? We're also, by the way, I'm doing really well financially. Like I mentioned, earlier. I, fly business class all the time. Um, I have signed a five year lease that I had to pay half of it upfront because I can do that because that's how I would get the best deal in my house.

I just like, I have money to play with. I have money to travel with, of course, and just, I have everything. that I need have an amazing life with all the freedom, right? And all the time freedom. So how to go from that to this is the five C's. So you can listen to the first episode of this podcast if you really want like the play by play details of [00:16:00] how I actually literally did that to this, but I don't think that that actually, I don't think, I don't know if my story really helped so much other than just serve as an inspiration.

I want to inspire you for sure, but I also want to give you this tool. I want to give you this model that you can apply to your life, because you might not want to live in Bali. You might not want to be even traveling all the time, and you don't have to travel all the time to be a digital nomad. You might actually just want to, Buy a house in the woods and go live with your husband and your dog, which is like in the last episode, my client that I interviewed, Sarah, that's the digital nomad life that she chose.

And just because you're not traveling all the time, that doesn't make you any less of a nomad. What makes you a nomad is that you're free to make decisions, to go and be wherever you want and to make the kind of money that you want. Okay, so on to the model, the five C's to make your life [00:17:00] completely unrecognizable.

Let's get into it.

Christa: The first C of the five C's is clarity. You need to know exactly what it is that you are working towards and what kind of life you want. You need to know what it is that you desire in order for you to start actually making action to make it happen. I am really big on manifestation. I love that shit. I actually have a whole episode on how I manifested my dream life, but Also, one of the main things about manifestation is action.

Christa: So you have to do something about it. Like you can't just sit around and wish for what you want and expect it to come true. You actually have to do something. But doing is something that requires a lot of energy. Doing requires a lot of effort and you don't want to be just doing one thing and then doing another thing and then doing something else because that's going to end up Having you running [00:18:00] around in circles.

Christa: Clarity, the reason why it's so important is because it's like having that center of the bullseye. You need to know what it is that you're aiming for so that you can at least kind of get close to the place that you want to be. Now, I remember when I didn't have clarity on what it was that I wanted to do or even where I wanted to go.

Christa: I just knew that I was unhappy, but I didn't know what to do about it. There were actually so many months dare I even say like a year When I was working in corporate New York that I just, I would, you know, like I said, I would leave home crying all the time. Um, I knew that I felt underappreciated. I knew I felt disrespected often.

Christa: I knew that I felt just not happy. Like I, like I felt like I wasn't living my dreams and I wasn't living up to my potential, but I didn't know what else I could do. I didn't know What I was good at. I didn't know what my options were. So the [00:19:00] clarity part is actually really tricky, but I also do think that when people, and I, again, I myself included when people are in this kind of low vibration state where you're looking around and you're just like, Oh, I don't like this.

Christa: I don't like this. I don't like this. It's kind of hard to think about what else there could be. Somehow it feels feels like you're really setting yourself up for failure and disappointment if you dream bigger. But I want to encourage you right now to don't fall into that trap. Don't fall into that trap of being scared to dream because that is literally what keeps you stuck.

Christa: What I do in my work now, um, the digital nomad. Career that I currently have is I am a business coach and a career coach, and I help people find that clarity. I help them find that clarity on what it is that they want to do to become a digital ed in terms of their career. And I [00:20:00] also help them find clarity on what kind of lifestyle they want.

Christa: So something that I have seen over and over and over again with my clients, 'cause I do this process called a career assessment process. It's basically like as soon as you join. The Digital Nomad Life Academy, or I'll call it the DNLA from now on. As soon as you join the DNLA, um, you can sign up for this career assessment call where I analyze your personality, your interests, your likes, your dislikes, your background, et cetera.

Christa: And then I suggest to you a remote career that is aligned with who you are as a person. And something that I've found a lot is that, you know, I have like So much information about this person on this worksheet by the time we get in this call that's why it works so well that I can suggest something.

Christa: And. So often my clients that I do the service for, they're like, Oh my gosh, wait, I actually kind of like always wanted to do that. Like that was sort of what I wanted to do when I was a kid. I just didn't understand how I could do that now. Um, [00:21:00] or I didn't think that I was qualified for it. Or it's like, I'm able to be like, Hey, you might like this.

Christa: And then they're like, how did you know? And I'm like, see, you actually knew all along, but you were scared. to dream it. This is a trap. It is a trap for you to not be dreaming big. I know that it feels scary where it's like if you dream big, then if it doesn't work out, then you're just going to be so crushed.

Christa: So you might as well just accept where you are now and accept the fact that 90 percent of people actually hate their jobs and you're just one of the 90 percent and it feels good to be part of the majority No. No, no, no, no, no. Okay. I like to share little memories that I get. So I'm having this memory right now.

Christa: If you do know my whole story, I don't want to get too deep into this story, but basically there is a time. Brace yourself. I'm going to tell you something. It might make you cringe. Um, I broke my neck diving [00:22:00] into a pool when I was 20 years old. I was drunk, very embarrassing moment, like just whatever. I'm so lucky.

Christa: I'm so grateful for my life. I'm so grateful for my health. Actually, this was a really big turning moment for me in my life of making me like seize the day, um, forevermore, but Uh, when I was in neck brace and when I was just really sad and really ashamed, I would sometimes catch myself daydreaming of what life would be like once I got out of this pickle.

Christa: Like, I would catch myself daydreaming about myself healthy again and I would catch myself daydreaming about traveling because one of the most dramatic things about the whole day saga was that it was right before I was meant to study abroad and I've always been a travel lover so like not being able to study abroad was truly devastating and heartbreaking to me and I didn't get to go because of this accident so I would catch myself dreaming about what I would what it would be like in Rome [00:23:00] and then it was almost like I'd give myself a slap across the face being like no don't dream that like what if it doesn't happen what if this can't come true but um I going into the doctor's office and the doctor giving me this healthy prognosis, like, Hey, you're healing and you're going to be healed in time to at least make it to the second semester.

Christa: This physical sensation of this weight that had been on my shoulders being lifted. And I had this knowing that because I had been dreaming about it so much that my dreams were coming true. And the point of this story is just that you have to know what your dreams are. Because as soon as I did get my neck brace off and as soon as I was healthy and well, I was running to that study abroad office and I was re signing up and I knew exactly how to get myself back because I had that clarity of where it was that I [00:24:00] wanted to go.

Christa: So clarity, this is what I mean about how the 5C model can be applied to any area of your life. It's not just if you want to become a digital nomad, although if you do want to become a digital nomad, I really, really encourage you to actually pause the episode now and Answer these questions.

Christa: What would an absolutely dream day look like for you? If you had your own business that you were doing fulfilling work and making the money that would feel really satisfying for you, where would you go? What time would you wake up? What clothes would you be wearing? What would the weather outside be like?

Christa: Who would be around you? What kind of environment would you be working from? What would you be doing after work?

Christa: What would you be doing on the weekends? And also, most importantly, what would you [00:25:00] not be doing? And what would you not be feeling? And if you're not doing those things and you're not feeling that thing, what's the opposite of how would you feel? So you can click the Rewind button 30 seconds and listen to those questions again and actually really encourage you to journal them out.

Christa: You know what? We'll put them in the show notes. Marie, my podcast editor, please for the people please write out what these questions are and put them in the show notes for the listeners because these are really important journaling questions and I want you to have that clarity.

Christa: I want you listeners to know Where you want to go. What is your dream life? You deserve to have a rich vision of what your life can be. And you know what? It might not happen this month. It might not happen this year. It might not happen in five years. Who knows? But what if this dream life would be yours in [00:26:00] six years?

Christa: Wouldn't that be better than being in the same low vibe state that you might currently be in? You deserve that clarity. So look, the one question that I didn't ask you in those journaling prompts is what career would you be doing? And I'm not asking that because I know better as a coach. I know better because most people have no idea what their options even are for remote work.

Christa: Most people have no idea. What they are qualified to do. Most people have these really unrealistic ideas that you need to have some kind of specific degree or a certain level of education or a specific kind of skill set. I know that most people listening have no freaking idea what they could possibly be doing and that's why there's not that many digital nomads in the world.

Christa: Because like, you know guys, I get like Almost a hundred thousand listeners on this podcast. [00:27:00] That's a lot of people, but why aren't more people doing it? It's because of this one thing. It's because of the clarity or the missing clarity that is. You would never drive cross country without having a map or some kind of GPS, right?

Christa: You need to know where it is that you're going so that you can then start seeing the directions unfold for you. And you will be shocked, right? When you start getting really clear on what your dreams are, you're going to start noticing opportunities that will be able to move you closer to those dreams.

Christa: So my message to you is don't be afraid to dream big. Don't be afraid to dream even bigger than that. You don't have to share your dreams with everybody around you. And I actually encourage you not to share them with people who predictably will try to tell you that it's unrealistic. That's sick.

Christa: Or people that think that you're just out of your mind. My gosh, I can't even tell you how many people looked at me like I had three heads when I [00:28:00] told them that I was moving from New York city to Thailand, which is the first place that I went on my digital nomad life, basically. Like people just thought I was absolutely insane.

Christa: One time before I left, my mom even cried to me that she was worried I was going to get sold into sex slavery before I boarded that flight. And that's why I was like, And this is why I didn't tell you that I was going until after I booked the plane ticket. That was strategic because I know that, of course, it's my mom.

Christa: Like, she loves me, and shout out to my mom. I know you're listening to this episode. She listens to all my episodes. And my mom is also becoming a digital nomad, by the way, for anybody listening. Um, but that's the thing. now my mom is becoming a digital nomad because now she gets it now she understands now she's like oh this actually is realistic because she can see me her daughter doing this and you know what else my sister has also launched her own digital nomad.

Christa: Digital Nomad business also said that she was inspired by me and my life, which is amazing, but previously nobody got it. [00:29:00] Nobody got it. Right. And so people were like, um, what about, what about, what about this? What about that? And people will always have that shit to say. Okay. People will always have that shit to say.

Christa: So you keep those dreams in your journal, protect them at all costs. Your dreams are your compass. Your clarity is your compass and you have to have that compass because you have to know where it is that you're going if you want to get there. And also again, shout out to my career assessment process and shout out to all my clients who have been through one.

Christa: If you're curious about my career assessment process, you can listen to episode 33 of this podcast and you'll hear me talk about three different calls that I had with people pretty much on every single episode that I have in this podcast where I talked to one of my past clients. We mentioned the career assessment process.

Christa: It really is a clarity. is the very first thing that you need to make your life [00:30:00] unrecognizable. So if you're like, I know what my dreams are, I just don't know how to get there. Slide into my DMs and message me, just ask me about the career assessment process and I will hook you up. Okay. I'll, I'll just, I love to reward people that take action.

Christa: So I'll hook you up with a discount if you want to do one. Um, but you do have to message me and ask for it. You're not gonna be able to just find a discount online. Um, so anyway, let's talk about the second C. Okay. So first C was clarity to make your life unrecognizable. Second C. is community. And this is actually really very aligned with what I was just speaking about, you know, about how the naysayers will be like, no, those dreams are unrealistic.

Christa: No, that's not possible. No, you can't do this. You are hear me now. This is a very important quote. You are the sum of the people that you spend the most time with. So when you [00:31:00] are Say, working in corporate or working in a blue collar job or whatever, everybody around you is going to hold a similar vibe and a similar belief system, and they hold similar values.

Christa: So if you have a value or a belief system that's slightly different than everyone else, around you, you are going to feel like an alien. You are going to feel like a black sheep. And you are going to feel like a freaking weirdo. You're going to feel like you probably have three heads. You're going to feel like the crazy one.

Christa: Because you're going to be looking around you, just like I was, being like, Why is everybody so okay with the fact that we have 10 days of vacation time? Like, that's not enough. I was looking around being like, Why is everybody getting married at age 28? This is so weird. I was looking around being like, Why is everybody comfortable with the fact that we don't get mental health days?

Christa: Like, why? That I have to come to work when I'm really not feeling well when I'm when I'm depressed because I just got my heart broken or because someone in my family just died [00:32:00] like why don't I get a day off for that or if I do get a day off why am I penalized for it by having to cut into my Precious PTO.

Christa: That just felt unfair. Why is everybody here? Totally fine with the fact that you have to work like 50 weeks a year up until you're 65 and then you get to travel when your body is not as vibrant as it used to be when you were younger. Like, You cannot you're probably not gonna go book a trip to Ibiza and have a party until 3 a.

Christa: m When you're 65, you're just not going to do that So if you're living that white picket fence retire at 65 kind of life the things that you're missing out on It's just, it's like an infinite number of things that you're missing out on. And I just didn't understand. I just didn't get it. And when I would express that to people, I would be gaslit.

Christa: People [00:33:00] like, literally, I remember, um, my first boss, I actually really liked my first boss. I actually just hung out with him in Montauk. So he's amazing. But Mike, if you're listening to this, I remember you telling me that you travel all around the world for 10 days and I get it that that's okay for some people.

Christa: It wasn't okay for me. For me, it wasn't okay. It was not. I did not want to accept that. But everybody told me that that was how it had to be. So I believed them. I believed them for years. Until, until I actually took the leap, moved abroad, faced the fact that everybody thought that I had three heads and went to Thailand.

Christa: And when I got to Thailand, I remember looking around being like, wait a minute, like all of these non Thai people who are here, which there are a lot, there are a lot of expats who live in Thailand. There are a lot of expats who live in Bali. There are a lot of people who live everywhere. There were so many people that were like, yeah, no, we, we made the same decision.

Christa: Like [00:34:00] we're here too. We're also digital nomads. We're also. living this like kind of fringe alternative lifestyle. And then I was like, wait a minute. I'm not a black sheep, or if I am a black sheep, I am now in a sea of black sheep and we are the rainbow sheep. That's what people, if people inside of the DNLA, we call ourselves the black sheep.

Christa: And when you join the program, there's a little, um, there's like a little section where it says, Hello, black sheep. And you'll just see hundreds of people introducing themselves being like, Hey, I'm so and so from this country. And now I'm a black sheep. This is what I was doing. This is why I joined the Digital Nomad Life Academy.

Christa: And I'm a proud black sheep. And it's just so cool seeing that, like seeing all these other people that believe and dream the same way that you do. This is so powerful. This is the power of community. Now, I know that I just shared with you that you should journal about your dreams. And you should keep your journal private, like keep [00:35:00] your dreams private if, and major if, if no one around you gets it.

Christa: However, if people around you do get it, if people around you are like, that's awesome, wait, I want to do that. You're just, you're inspiring me. That's so cool. Or, oh yeah, I've already tried that. Oh, here's what I learned from my experience. experience. Oh, you want to do that? Hey, let's collaborate. Let's just do it together.

Christa: Strength in number. If you have people around you that do get it, share your dreams with them, indulge in the dreams because they might have a slightly different dream that will inspire your dreams. And I bet you that's actually why you're listening to this podcast. You're listening to this podcast because you wanted to feel not alone, right?

Christa: Probably. If you're one of the average listeners of this podcast of people who follow me, probably you are a one in a hundred or maybe even a one in a million.

Christa: And you probably actually [00:36:00] are one in a million. Um, I just had a really fun little exercise where I was going to give you an example of like, I don't know how many digital nomads are in the US, but I could imagine it's like in the hundreds of thousands. So I wanted to make a point. So I asked Google how many people live in the US and all my spiritual people out there will appreciate this, but the number is 3, 033, 000.

Christa: It was, it was 333. 3 million. That's great. Got a little angel number there. Okay. And then 10 percent of that is 33 million. I don't think that there are 33 million digital nomads in the United States. Um, or maybe even in the world, maybe there are, I don't know, but either way, like that's still a lot. of people, and my impression is, is that there's not that many.

Christa: So, if you want to become a digital nomad, you have to understand that literally, statistically, You are less than one in a million, most likely. [00:37:00] And that feels very, very isolating, right? I get it, like, when you feel like a black sheep, when you feel like an outsider, when you feel like an alien, it triggers something so deep inside of you.

Christa: Like it actually triggers your survival instincts. We always say strength in number because that is a survival instinct. Imagine our ancestors in the woods. Not everybody could be asleep at the same time. Some people need to stay up to care for the tribe. And also some people need to cook and some people need to hunt and some Some people need to build and we just, we need community.

Christa: We need to be working together. And when the community exercises us, then it's basically a death sentence. So what you need to understand here is that community is literally. So deeply important, and we may or may not recognize that consciously, but [00:38:00] it's so deep within your subconscious. So when you tell other people about your dreams, and they tell you that you're crazy, or they tell you that it's unrealistic, you're going to get triggered by it.

Christa: And if you want to actually make those dreams happen, you have to. You have to, have to, have to, I cannot state this strong enough, you have to be around other people that understand and that will support you. If you are one in a billion and you have really supportive family members who just like, you know, whatever it is that you dream of, they'll support you, then amazing, good for you.

Christa: Maybe you don't need to surround yourself by a digital nomad community, but if you are like the vast, vast, vast majority of the population, you have one or more parents, one who will question you, who will criticize you, or you have a teacher who has a little voice in the back of your head that's telling you that it's unrealistic, or you have friends around you that are [00:39:00] like, um, are you serious?

Christa: Like, I don't know, like judging you. Um, by the way, I don't know if those people are your real friends, but that's okay. Whatever. You can make other friends, and you will make other friends. friends. That's, that's another thing too about community is like, not just that it's people that will support you, but just having people that are on the same frequency as you, like people that vibe with you.

Christa: Remember I said that I always dreamed of having international friends. Um, for me somehow, for some reason, like I, I get it why people love the United States. It's somehow didn't resonate with me. Like I always was like, but what about the rest of the world? Like this country is so cool and that country is so cool.

Christa: And I just kind of felt like, Um, a lot of Americans love America, and we're kind of brainwashed to believe that when we're young. Like, we say the Pledge of Allegiance every single day before school, and we're taught to believe that America's the greatest country in the [00:40:00] world. And for anybody who believes that, amazing.

Christa: I love that. I love that you love your country, and, um, it's not that I don't love the U. S., but I love the world, and I wanted to be around other people that love the world, and now that I am, now that I have all these international friends, it just feels so good that we don't have to be saying the national anthem at the beginning of every single event, you know?

Christa: And we get to talk about the world. And I just, I just love that. I love that for me and whatever community you feel right in, whether that's a religious community or again, a traveling community, I wish for you, my wish for you is to be surrounded by other people who are on your wavelength. That's real safety in number.

Christa: If you've been following my digital nomad journey for a while, because I've been sharing it since basically like 2017. So I have a lot of people that have been following my journey. And they've also been following my business [00:41:00] growth. You probably know that my business has grown more, it's grown bigger and bigger and bigger, which is so amazing.

Christa: And it's at a point now where actually the community is at the focus of my business. So when you join the digital nomad life Academy. Like I mentioned earlier, the first thing that you're going to do is you're going to go onto the little channel inside of our group that says Hello Black Sheep, and you're going to introduce yourself.

Christa: And you're probably going to get 15 or more people that are like, Hey, so and so, like, I relate to this, or I relate to that. And you're going to read through other people's introductions, and you're going to meet them. And then what you're going to do is you're going to go to some of our weekly coworking sessions.

Christa: Every single Wednesday, there are three sessions where you can just join and meet other people and just literally have a co working session on zoom so that you can chit chat in between in between work breaks and when you're not on a co working session you can meet people in our networking events where we [00:42:00] actually give you like really fun easy to answer questions make it super not awkward put you into little like two minute breakout rooms so that you can rapid fire have Connections with people that are actually going to be so much deeper than just texting each other on a virtual platform where you can only see each other's profile pictures.

Christa: Like, this, the community inside of the DNLA, people become real friends. Like, I think we've had meetups, well we've had, we've definitely had meetups on all six continents, minus Antarctica. We've had meetups on six continents. Um, I don't even know how many countries. Um, I've personally gotten the pleasure of meeting, I think, 30 of my clients.

Christa: Of people inside of the DNLA in real life. And meetups are just happening more and more frequently. And that's what I'm saying, like, it's, it's crazy. When you connect with people, even if it is just digital, even if it is just on a two dimensional platform like that, the resonance that you have with people, the [00:43:00] connections, the way that you can just drop in with people and share your hopes and dreams in a way that you probably never have before with your friends or family.

Christa: It's amazing. It's just, it's nothing short of magical, honestly. And I think that's why people are in the DNLA for like three weeks. And if they find that someone's nearby, they'll be like, Hey, let's hang out. Let's get lunch. And then they end up becoming besties. So in the DNLA, you don't just get people to network with and mastermind with and brainstorm with and business collab with you actually make.

Christa: for real friends. And for me, this is my, this is my favorite aspect of the community. And it's just the gift that keeps on giving because those friends are, are your friends for life, you know, whether you're in the DNLA or not. I hope that you stay in the DNLA, but, uh, yeah, because you're my friend and that leads us into the next C.

Christa: So we've already talked about clarity as a first C for your life. [00:44:00] The second C is community. The third C is coaching. You could also think about this as mentorship, but essentially it's, it's kind of along the lines of community where, you know, you are the sum of the people that you spend the most time with.

Christa: And when you are around other people who get it, it just really helps you feel super safe in achieving your dreams and just gives you so much motivation to keep going. And, um, it's, it's also just a better way to live life. when you're around other people that share similar values and dreams as you.

Christa: However, when you are looking to actually rapidly grow, like right, remember the title of this episode is how to make your life unrecognizable. Then you need to have someone around you who can show you the way this episode is not called how to make your life feel safer and easier and have you moving forward.

Christa: This episode is called how to make your life [00:45:00] unrecognizable. So this episode, and specifically this sea of coaching, is a shout out to anybody who knows that they're meant to be. for more. You know that your life could be so much better. Like you see these people on instagram, you see these people on tv, you see these people or you just hear about them through the grapevine and you're like, whoa, that is so cool.

Christa: That person went to how many countries, that person's doing what this weekend, this person's making what, this person built what business, like That kind of stuff, if you are like, I, if you're looking around and you're like, I see these other people and I feel like they don't have anything that I don't have.

Christa: I just don't know how to get there. Yes, you need that clarity and say you can accomplish that with like a career assessment call with me or by reading some books and journaling and stuff. But once you have that clarity, now you need to do something about it. And community is about being around other people that are on your [00:46:00] wavelength.

Christa: But coaching is about being around someone that's on your future wavelength. And this is so important because this is literally the hack. to life. Like if you want to hack the system, if you were like, I want to go from where I am now to this next level version of myself and I don't want to wait the 10 years for it to slowly manifest and you know, take the long journey to get there.

Christa: I want what I want and I want it now. First of all, if you're like that, shout out. I'm like that too. I want what I want and I want it now because as you heard with my injury earlier I came close to death like I had a near death experience and that taught me that life is short And I don't want to fucking wait.

Christa: If I want something I want it now and I will do what it takes to get what I want now And that's why I personally have invested. Oh my God. I don't even want to, I don't know if I even want to say the number right now. [00:47:00] Um, a lot of money in coaching because coaching, you're not paying someone for their time.

Christa: You're paying for their answers. You're paying for their storytelling. You're paying for their lessons learned. So I recently hired a coach. I recently hired a business coach, but I've hired many other different kinds of coaches. But anyway, recently I hired a business coach. I. paid her 15, 000 to meet me twice a week for three months.

Christa: So yeah, I am paying her about 2, 000 per call. If you break it down that way over that actually, but, um, you know, that's the stage of business that I'm at, because for me, my goal is to hit a million dollars in revenue in a year in my business. And I know that. that I can do that because I look around me and I see other people that have similar business models to me and I'm like, these people don't have anything that I don't have, but I don't know how to get there.

Christa: So currently I don't have any friends and there are not people in my community [00:48:00] that are in that position. I want to rise above the level that I am at, but Who can I ask, right? Like, who can I get advice from? How can I connect with someone who is doing that well? Well, I gotta pay them. for their time and I get to pay them for their energy and I get to pay them for their lessons learned.

Christa: Surely people who have made a million dollars a year in their coaching businesses have probably made mistakes on the way. That's not just something that you can, quote, like manifest right away without taking inspired action and the right Actually, my coach is almost 10 years younger than me, which is insane.

Christa: Um, I'm, she's just incredibly impressive and every single time I get off a call with her, I'm always like, oh my god, I have so much to do. My brain has exploded. I've just learned so much and I've learned so much so fast. And she's just like, okay, do this, do this, do this, do this. That is not [00:49:00] something that you can accomplish with chat GPT or even the best AI ever.

Christa: Like you need a person who can listen to your fears, listen to your concerns, listen to the reason why you're not there. doing the things that you need to be doing, because actually that really is, by the way, the power of coaching is that it assumes that the client has the answers within or like has all the capacity within coaching is a very like.

Christa: I assume that my client is amazing. I assume that my client is miraculous. I assume that my client can do anything that they set their mind to if they do it in a strategic way without resistance, without blocks. And it's the coach's job to help the client identify their blocks, identify their blind spots, identify their fears, identify their resistances so that the coach can be like, oh, okay, so you actually need to be doing this, but.

Christa: The reason why you're not doing it [00:50:00] yet is because this thing that you just told me, and now that we know, I need you to go do some shadow work around this and then come back to me and we'll talk again about the step after that. And the coach also feeds to you the step by step directions in a way that you don't have to get overwhelmed.

Christa: Essentially coaching is a way to bypass the scary negative emotions that come along with in this situation, entrepreneurship. But. I'm not just giving you the five C's to build a business. I'm not just giving you the five C's to become a digital nomad. I'm giving you the five C's to make your life unrecognizable.

Christa: So, um, you know, another way, another area that you might want to make your life unrecognizable is say in relationships. Um, I always, I talk about relationships or I use relationships as an example a lot in this podcast as like if we're not talking about digital nomadism, we might be talking about relationships because [00:51:00] if you ask me, becoming a digital nomad and especially becoming a digital nomad entrepreneur, which is what I'm really an advocate for, it's such a personal growth vehicle because it forces you to get outside your comfort zone.

Christa: It makes you do things. that you've never done before. It pushes you to become a more confident version, to become more accomplished, again, to, to try things, to experiment, to make mistakes, to put yourself into the face of failure. So that's why I really believe that digital nomadism and entrepreneurship is a big vehicle for personal growth.

Christa: And I think most of us probably know that relationships, romantic relationships, do the same thing. thing for you. Romantic relationships will trigger you. Romantic relationships will push you to be a more healed, more evolved, more mature version of yourself. At least a healthy [00:52:00] relationship will do that.

Christa: You learn a lot about yourself in reflection of another person. And relationships are hard for a lot of people. So how can you get better at relationships? Well, you might want to work with a coach, for example, because a If you're, say, not good at relationships, you need to inquire within, right? You need to ask yourself, why are you the common denominator here?

Christa: And if you're the common denominator, and you keep making the same mistakes, and you keep falling into the same patterns, certainly there are things that you're doing that you're Unaware of or you're doing them subconsciously or yourself sabotaging for some reason We never self sabotage because we are trying to hurt ourselves We're actually self sabotaging because we're trying to protect ourselves literally and we just do these things subconsciously So therefore we are unaware.

Christa: We have blind spots and [00:53:00] a coach The purpose of a coach is literally to hold up a mirror to you and kind of like, you know, hold the mirror this way, then turn it a little bit to the side and pivot it and turn it and say, Hey, does it look like this? Does it look like this? Do you see it this way? Do you see it this way?

Christa: And help the client create those neural pathway connections themselves so that They can get out of their own way, basically. And you need this anytime you are trying to level up in life. So whether you're trying to level up in your relationships, that's also why people go to therapy, right?

Christa: To gain more awareness, because when you have awareness, now you have more clarity on what the problems are, and you also can come up with solutions. to achieve the end result. Remember we talked about clarity at the beginning. You need to know where you're going and you need to know what's in your way in order to get the right directions to get to where you want to go.

Christa: And that [00:54:00] is just so important when you're trying to do anything new. And if you, again, are like most people who are listening to this episode, you probably don't know anybody. Who also is already a highly successful digital nomad. If you do, then I encourage you to ask them for their mentorship. And if you feel like you can't ask them for their mentorship because you know that they're super busy, or you know that, um, you know, that would end up creating just a very one sided relationship where you don't really have value to give to them.

Christa: Then that's why you hire a coach, right? that's why I do what I do because I don't have the capacity to just mentor for free Every single person that wants my help that would be literally thousands of people Like they're like I told you there's thousands and thousands of people that listen to this podcast There's thousands of people that follow me on social media and pretty much every single person You [00:55:00] Not every single person, but like a large percentage of people that I meet when they hear about my life and what I do, they're like, Oh my God, how do I do that?

Christa: And they, they really want to know, but you know, it's not just a quick thing to like completely change your life. So if I'm going to be putting in all that time, I need to be compensated in some way. everything in the universe needs balance and Um, any kind of business is an energy exchange, especially coaching.

Christa: Like essentially I'm filling up my client's cup by pouring into their cup, my knowledge, my experiences, my mistakes, my trial and error,

Christa: my reflections for them, my willingness to sit through and listen to them, go through their own processes to hold space for them. That's my contribution into their cup. Now. I don't necessarily need help from the thousands of people that want my help. What I need is money because I have a [00:56:00] livelihood to make, right?

Christa: This is my livelihood. So that's why coaching. is something that you pay for. If you don't want to pay for coaching, then you know, you keep doing what you're doing now, which is binging on podcasts of people who are where you want to be. Um, you keep watching those YouTube videos. You keep asking people for a bit of their time.

Christa: You keep taking people out for coffee and you can do that, but, um, you really do need someone who is where you want to be. to help you get to where you want to be. It's just again, it's one of the five C's. It's incredibly important. It is a shortcut to life in any single area. So I wish for you that you are lucky enough to find someone who will give you 20 hours of their time for free.

Christa: Um, and if you don't, Have that person. Then I really encourage you to slide into my dms at christella [00:57:00] travels, and you can actually just type the word apply now into the message and I'll send you an automated response that's like, Hey, okay, here's question one, and then you answer the question, and then once you answer question one, I'll send you question two.

Christa: Once you answer that, I'll send you question three. There are five questions and essentially I ask you to fill out this application form because I Read them. I read all the application forms I will be able to get back to you and I can talk to you and make sure that that the DNLA is actually The right fit for you It really is not beneficial to me to have people that aren't going to get results in the program because I want the program to be super high vibe.

Christa: I want everybody to be obsessed with each other. Um, and I can't have people who are going to bring the vibe down. I can't have people who are pessimistic. I can't have people that are going to be like, Oh, but like I tried it and it's not working. I can't have people who are the opposite of cheerleaders in the [00:58:00] program.

Christa: So that's why I ask you to apply. And, um, I will share with you very honestly, if I think that it's a good fit for you. And if it is, I'll, I'll invite you into the program again. If we're talking, I'll totally hook you up, um, and just hopefully make it a no brainer for you and a full FES for you to join the DNLA and be a part of this amazing community.

Christa: And again, we are talking about coaching. Um, so I will just mention that you get so much of my time and attention when you join the DNLA. Like I go live two, sometimes even three times a week where anybody can ask me anything. It's like totally a free for all with the kind of questions that you can ask.

Christa: And the reason why is because actually everybody in the program is building a very similar business model. I teach the small service provider model. Um, and Talk about [00:59:00] business building and marketing and all of my clients that come to the calls super regularly, like they come to every single call because they know that even if they're not asking a question, just literally listening to another person being coached, it inspires new ideas for them and they learn things through the vehicle of other people being coached.

Christa: Again, that's the value of community. Like when you have other people that are trying to grow at the same pace in the same direction, um, It just gets you to where you want to be so, so much faster. And that's why you, if you listen to this podcast, you'll hear so many of my clients talking about how their life has changed.

Christa: is completely unrecognizable from the previous year. Like, 12 months is actually not that long to make your life unrecognizable, but when you do have the power of clarity, of community, and the access to coaching where you can ask anything. Any question that crosses your [01:00:00] mind along your journey, and I can answer them.

Christa: Someone who's built a multiple six figure business, who's traveled to 65 plus, maybe I forget how many now, countries in the world, who's been doing the digital nomad thing for over a decade, then you get to expedite your dreams and you get to hack the system and change your life forever in a very short period of time.

Christa: This is quantum leaping for all my manifestation besties out there. Okay, that's C. That's the third C of coaching. So we've got clarity, community, coaching. Next C is coursework or curriculum. They both start with C, so you can pick the one that resonates with you the most. But basically the idea here is that you need To be able to follow some directions, and what you don't want to do is try to reinvent the wheel.

Christa: Our society is only where it's at [01:01:00] because of our ancestors hard work. How do you think that Western medicine has gotten as advanced as it is, or Eastern medicine for that matter, any kind of medicine? Like, we are not still picking plants out of the ground and tasting them and risk dying because other people in the past have done that for us.

Christa: They have done that and they've written it down in a book. They've said, eat this plant and do not, whatever you do, eat this plant, right? If we didn't have those books telling us what is dangerous out there for us to eat. to eat, then probably we would not have the population growth that we have today.

Christa: But we have the rapid population growth that we have today because of our ancestors that have done the hard work of trial and erroring, they've written it down, and now we just get to read the frickin directions and build from there. The equivalent of this foraging in the [01:02:00] forest example that is relevant to today is trying to Google the answers to changing your life.

Christa: Trying to spend hours and hours and hours researching how to become a digital nomad. reading a blog post and asking chat gpt and watching a few one off videos or listening to interviews of people who've done it before like i'm sorry but who the hell do you think you are that you're gonna like make this huge change without ever following the directions like you would never try to build the pyramids of egypt without looking to the future at the directions.

Christa: And on that note, guess what? Nobody knows how the pyramids of Egypt were built because they didn't leave directions. So nobody can do it again. It's this mystery that has been there for thousands and thousands and thousands of years because nobody wrote the book on how the ancient Egyptian pyramids were built.

Christa: We [01:03:00] actually just assume that aliens built them because we're like, there's no directions and therefore it must not have been people because people leave directions because that's the thing that humanity does to support humanity. Read, writing down the directions and reading the directions is like, It's just ridiculous to not do.

Christa: I, I don't know. I don't know how, I don't know. Anyway, I don't want to be, I don't want to be ranting. I don't, I don't want to be shaming anybody. I'm just trying to drive home the point here that when you're looking to make a massive change in your life, reading little one sheets of paper is not the same as reading a book.

Christa: a book. People write books because they are comprehensive. A book has a beginning to set up the stage to get whoever the reader is on the same page so that when the directions start revealing themselves, everybody can follow [01:04:00] along. So I will talk a little bit about a time that I didn't follow the directions, that I didn't use any kind of coursework or curriculum.

Christa: And then when I did, how literally everything changed. So, um, I still, I don't know if I've made this episode. I have not yet made an episode about all the times that I tried to create a business and failed, but, uh, I humbly come to you as someone who's been a massive failure. many times before. So, um, just a little bit of my professional background.

Christa: I studied journalism in school, so I've always been a good writer and I've always been really drawn to writing and I know all different kinds of writing. I've always had that skill. And I've always been a very career driven person, so I actually had my first ever internship when I was 18 years old. I did a sales internship, so I learned a lot about sales.

Christa: And then I had a marketing internship when I was 19, and I learned all about marketing. And then my first real Big girl job outside of college is I worked at a digital marketing agency [01:05:00] where I was on the search engine optimization team, where I did writing, um, and specifically writing to get searched for online.

Christa: So I knew how to get websites ranking number one on Google. And then my next job, I was a marketing manager for a tech startup, uh, based in Bangkok. So I knew so much about how to get. This website known to the majority of English speakers in Thailand, basically, um, our business grew so much that year. And I, I love to think that I played a big part in that as being on the marketing team.

Christa: So I knew a lot about digital marketing from that. And then that job helped me get my next job where I worked as the first marketing employee for a really big tech startup for an app. So I also knew about social media. so many different aspects of marketing. I mean, because I was a first marketing employee, I had my hands in branding.

Christa: I had my hands in influencer marketing. [01:06:00] I first led the social media team and got that off the ground. Like I knew so much. about marketing from that job. And then when I was at that job, you know, by then I was working remotely and I was like, okay, I'm not really being challenged by this job anymore. I'm not learning anything new.

Christa: So maybe I should learn how to grow on Instagram. And then that's what I poured my heart and soul into. So on Instagram, I learned so much about personal branding. I learned about, um, going viral, viral content creation. I learned about. Copywriting, I just, I learned so, so, so much and I was able to grow my following to like 15, 000 people by 2018.

Christa: So, the point of the story is that by 2018, I had this audience on Instagram, a very curated audience, and I was like, Um, I feel like I want to be an entrepreneur. I should work for myself. So I started thinking about what kind of businesses should I create. And I at first thought, Oh, I should do photography because I [01:07:00] like love taking photos and I'm really good at it and I'll do that.

Christa: So I tried to start a photography business and the thing was I had a really hard time getting clients. I mean, I was traveling all around the world and I just didn't really have a good strategy for that. So, you know, I was like, you know what, okay, let's fold it. Then I thought, Hmm, maybe I should get into e commerce.

Christa: Wow. The idea of passive income is so alluring. Like I could just make money while I sleep. Ooh, let me try this. So I went all in to learn about e commerce and I actually built a Shopify store all by myself. I sourced all these different products and I decided to make it a digital nomad type shop. So, um, yeah, so I tried to do that.

Christa: And in the end, in the end, there were just. So many things that I needed to learn actually about e commerce that the road just felt so long. I didn't know anybody else who was doing it. I didn't know anybody else who was successful at it, let alone that. And um, I just was like, you know what, this actually really isn't very aligned with me.

Christa: This is not how I want to be [01:08:00] spending my time. And I don't think that I can do this anymore. So then I thought, Oh, well, I know how to write. Oh, maybe I'll start a blog. So I started a blog. It was called expats and backpacks. And then I started doing that, but I was like, Oh my gosh, this is incredibly tedious.

Christa: Like if I really want this to be successful, then I need to be doing this, this and this. And I don't feel like I have the capacity to do that. And then I was like, okay, not expats and backpacks. Okay. What else can I do? And then I, then I was like, wait a minute. I know a lot about personal branding. And I know a lot about growing an Instagram and I think that I should teach people how to grow an Instagram.

Christa: So I created another business called Instagrammer weekend. turns out that that was illegal to call my business that that was a lesson I learned the hard way, but guess what? I didn't ask anybody. I didn't ask anybody for help. I didn't ask anybody for direction on this. I just was sitting in my room One day my Airbnb being like, Hmm, I should create this business and then just like, you know, like I'm, I'm an action taker and I'm a big dreamer [01:09:00] and I get crazy tunnel vision and I have great work ethic and I when I have an idea, I fucking go for it.

Christa: So that's what I did. And I actually like launched this business. This was the closest one. that I had to being a success. by the way, I made a little bit of money with all of these things. And there are a couple of other businesses like, um, I actually did get paid to do career coaching, like to help people get jobs.

Christa: I, I wrote my friend's cover letters for them. Um, and they paid me for it cause I'm really good at writing cover letters. Uh, but yeah, the, the Instagram or weekend thing. That for me, I was like, Oh, this is so cool. Like I can combine my love for photography and personal branding and marketing and all these things.

Christa: But here's the thing. And here's the reason why this one failed is because I didn't have the full spectrum awareness of marketing for myself. And I got really triggered. So [01:10:00] when you try to market a business that is yourself. Like when you are trying to say, Hey people, this is who I am. This is who I'm helping.

Christa: And this is how I want to make money. Will you pay me? It really puts you up in the face of rejection and public failure. And it can be very, very scary and like very, very triggering. So what you end up doing when you're triggered is you self sabotage, you somehow accidentally procrastinate all day, or you randomly get the flu or.

Christa: Or you forget to do something or you miss your own deadlines. I know that I'm not a lazy person. And so when I started like missing my own deadlines and when I started procrastinating things and when I got the flu, like right before I was meant to host one of my trips, I was like, okay, something's up here.

Christa: And um, a great tool is meditation. I meditated on it and I realized that actually this [01:11:00] Business is not really aligned with me. And I was like, shoot, now I have to fold Instagram or weekend. Okay. So I happened to be dating someone at the time who, um, this guy was amazing. He was where I wanted to be. Like he was already making multiple six figures as a digital nomad entrepreneur.

Christa: And he actually coached me. I had never worked with a coach before this moment. And in, in this moment, I had this, I had this conversation with him that I. we finished the call and I was like, I have so much more clarity now than literally ever before. And, um, he was asking me just, you know, some, some very probing questions about what my motivation was for building the Instagram or weekend business and, um, why my other businesses had failed and what was holding me back.

Christa: And he reflected to me that there were probably some missing pieces that I had about, Marketing, my own [01:12:00] business, because if you're on a marketing team, right, if you're doing marketing for someone else, then you do know about marketing. You probably know a lot about marketing just like I did. I mean, I had been working in marketing for 10 years before I started my business, but marketing something yourself, it is, it is literally a completely different ballgame because you need to completely manage every single aspect of marketing and you need to put yourself out there.

Christa: So there's a lot of shadows and again, triggers and insecurities that can surface when you do that. So he just reflected all this to me and I walked away from that conversation being like, Oh my God, and I also realized that what I really wanted to do like deep down was help other people become digital nomads.

Christa: That was when I realized what I was actually meant to do, what I really wanted to do, but I just didn't know how to do it. So. I tried, I [01:13:00] tried to do it myself and, um, if you are one of the few people who I actually did coach back in 2019, because I had my Instagram, right?

Christa: I had my Instagram of Krista Digital Nomad and I put out some messages. I was like, Hey, does anybody want to get on a coaching call? And I think I charged like 100, 000. I don't know, like 200 for a session or something. And I got some clients, like I did get people saying yes to me. But the problem here was that the money was so unpredictable.

Christa: It was so unstable. My clients were not coming back. Like I didn't know how to keep them working with me long term. And I just, Oh my gosh, I can't even tell you how frustrating this was for this business to have failed. Because at this point now I'm like, I know this is what I meant to do. Like I've tried so many other things and nothing has worked.

Christa: And I got to a point where I was questioning whether [01:14:00] I was even cut out for entrepreneurship. I was like, maybe it's just not for me. Like, or, or maybe I actually am just dumb. Or maybe I, maybe I actually suck at marketing, or maybe I don't have what it takes. Maybe I need to be this. Maybe I need to be that.

Christa: I was just, I, I was questioning everything and all my insecurities were just in my face. And it was, honestly, it was a very, very uncomfortable time. I did not have any. coursework to follow. So how did I get from that all those different failed businesses where I tried, I, I gave it my all. Honestly, I went all in.

Christa: I went, I was tunnel vision. I didn't give up. I was so motivated, but how did I go from that to where I am now? It's because someone finally gave me step by step directions. In 2019, at the end of 2019, December, there was a coach that I had been following for a while on Instagram. Who was a digital nomad.

Christa: [01:15:00] Um, at the time her handle was Suzy Travel. She no longer is doing this anymore, unfortunately, but Suzy Travel changed my life. Uh, she Yeah, she basically took me under her wing. I hired her. I paid her 10, 000 Which was a absolutely terrifying Terrifying, terrifying investment, especially because I had failed so many times already before.

Christa: But she just really encouraged me. She was like, yeah, maybe you have failed before, but you have everything that it takes, Krista. You do understand marketing. You do have the work ethic. You do have the drive. You do have the motivation. You do even have the clarity on what it is that you want to do. So, you know, this amount of money, like you're going to make it back.

Christa: You just have to follow the directions. And I was like, oh my god, just give me the directions. So that's what she did. She, she told me what to do. And she showed me what my blind spots were. And literally within three [01:16:00] months of working with Susie, I had not just replaced my income, but I was working with multiple clients at a time.

Christa: And six months after working with her, I launched my first group program in my coaching business and I had a 30, 000 launch, which mind you was almost half. of my annual salary at my job. I made half of my annual salary at my job in one month, like with one launch. And three months later, I did it again. So I literally made my entire like, I think I was making 70k at my, at my last job.

Christa: Um, I had basically made my entire salary In six months of working with Susie and obviously then I quit my job and since then it's just been onwards and upwards and um, since then I've had launches that were 100, 000, 200, 000 and [01:17:00] uh, as I shared with you before, like I'm, I want to make a million dollars now and I know that I can.

Christa: And that's why I hired a coach, right? That's why I hired a coach who's already making millions of dollars because I wanted to pick her brain. I wanted to have her time. I wanted to have her attention and I wanted to have her step by step guidance. So remember. We've got, you need to have clarity. You need to know what it is that you're going for.

Christa: You also need to have community. You need to have other people who are around you that will support you, that won't belittle your dreams, that won't make you feel like they're impossible or irresponsible. You need to have coaching. You need to have someone in your life who is where you want to be. that can show you the way and you need to have the step by step guidance.

Christa: You need to have some kind of curriculum, some kind of coursework to follow so that you're not reinventing the wheels or assuming that the thing that you want to do is impossible or built by aliens. You need to have [01:18:00] directions. You need to read the freaking book. You cannot be asking chat, GPT, or Google.

Christa: You need to have the step by step directions, the curriculum, and the coursework. So, those are the four C's and now the fifth C, arguably the most important C of all. The one that will literally make not just your life, but you, you will become unrecognizable in the best way possible. You will up level to the next version of yourself, the more confident version of yourself, the more successful, the more self assured, the more accomplished version of yourself when you follow this fifth C.

Christa: C, which is character development. People who have been really into personal development, you understand. It's personal development. We just call it character development because it's a C and it's easier to remember when it's a five Cs. So character development, same thing as personal development. You need to really be looking within to [01:19:00] change without.

Christa: You need to fix what's internal in order to improve what's external. I bet you if you think hard or maybe you even just scroll through Instagram, you probably are aware of people who look like they're living the dream life, but actually they're deeply unsatisfied. These are people that are in toxic relationships that post about how much they love their significant other on Valentine's Day or on their birthday.

Christa: These are people who take pictures in front of Lamborghinis wearing expensive sunglasses that they're going to return tomorrow because they never actually took the stickers off. These are people who are the life of the party and deep down are actually deeply depressed. Unfortunately, we live in a society that is always trying to one up each other.

Christa: People that are trying to keep up with the Joneses. People that are [01:20:00] spending so much money on credit cards in order to impress people around them leaving 30 percent tips on a cocktail when they're out on a date because they want their date to believe that they're rich and successful when actually they're barely paying rent.

Christa: But this is the society that we live in and this is why personal development is not ubiquitous in our culture, it's just something that like a select number of people are into. But you got to get into personal development. You got to develop your character. You have to grow into a better, more satisfied version of yourself.

Christa: You have to do the internal work. Which, by the way, is hard to do, okay? And I will, I will talk about that. But, it's absolutely essential if you want to change your life and be happier and more satisfied and more fulfilled. I am very confident that the reason why you're listening to this podcast and not some [01:21:00] podcast about how to make a million dollars online in six months Um, which by the way, that's, that's bullshit, um, but people do say that because that's like the alluring message that, that people want to hear.

Christa: People that want to get rich quick. And why do they want to get rich quick? Because they want to keep up with the Joneses. They want to buy a Lamborghini. And that's why they think about getting rich quick because they think that a Lamborghini is so far off in their future that they need some kind of money.

Christa: Just, you know, again, get rich quick solution, but those people, when they get that Lamborghini, they're not going to be happy. And that's also why you hear so many people talk about how, you know, money isn't everything like money doesn't buy happiness because people that are chasing money. in order to be happy, then realize that actually it wasn't a lack of money that was making them unhappy.

Christa: It was something deep within themselves that they were unsatisfied with. Maybe it was their [01:22:00] insecurities. Maybe it was the fact that they actually, you know, hate their body or think that they're not smart enough or, or have some kind of worthiness complex. Money doesn't fix those things. And that is why money doesn't buy happiness.

Christa: But I believe that when you really look within and you address the reasons why you're insecure, you address the reasons why you're not confident or the list of things that you are unconfident about. When you take a good hard look at why you've been following the rules of society and not following your own authenticity, when you become painfully aware of all the reasons why you're not who you want to be living the life that you want to be, why you're not as satisfied when you're not as happy as you want to be.

Christa: When you become really aware of that stuff, which again, you might be shuddering to think of, What kind of subconscious work you're going to have to [01:23:00] do to uncover that, um, when you do that painful work, now you have that clarity on why you're not who you want to be, and you can come up with a path, you can get the directions, you can find the coach, you can enter the community, you can find the curriculum and coursework to then become who you want to be.

Christa: And when you do something like entrepreneurship, for example, yes, you might be an insecure person just like I was for me. I had a big insecurity about how smart I was. I believed that actually I was like a bimbo that I was a dumb blonde for so long. Um, like, Oh my gosh, I, I'm, I, I feel so sad for this earlier version of myself cause I no longer feel that.

Christa: But Remember when I was telling you about all these times that I failed starting a business? When I failed for like the seventh time starting a business, what was going on in my mind [01:24:00] was, Oh my God, see, they were right. I am just a dumb blonde. I am a fucking bimbo. I am dumb. I don't have what it takes and I don't have what it takes because I am unworthy because I am not good enough.

Christa: Like, That was me. That sucked. It sucked. It was a low, low point in my life. And when I worked with a coach, I was not expecting to have her reflect to me. All of those things, but I'm so grateful for her because having a person that will reveal or show you or reflect to you the truth, the real truth of what's hiding behind your facade, what's hiding behind your mask, what's hiding behind your forced smile.

Christa: When you have someone that's brave enough to be like, yo, is it because you are blank? Is it because you feel [01:25:00] this? And then you're like, Oh my God, wait, yes, I do. That is how I feel. And you cry about it. And, and they hold space for you and they don't judge you. And then they're like, look, we can come up with a plan for this.

Christa: It's not that you're not smart. It's not this, it's, it's not that let's come up with a plan. They hold space for you through that. And you get to grow and they give you journaling exercises, journaling exercises, I hope that you do the journaling exercise that I gave you earlier in this episode. Go back and listen to that if you didn't do it.

Christa: It's, you need to do this kind of internal work, this character development, this, again, looking at your insecurities, looking at your shadows, looking at all of your, quote, not enoughnesses. So that you can see that you always have been enough and have the bravery to go after what it is that you want. I say this all the time, entrepreneurship is not for rocket scientists, it's not for people that are super smart, it's not for people that have particular skill [01:26:00] sets, it's for people who are brave enough.

Christa: to face their demons. It's for people that are brave enough to put themselves in the face of failure and in the face of rejection. It's for people that are willing to pivot rather than give up. If you haven't given up, you haven't failed. And For me, this is why, this is literally why I built the digital in my life academy in the way that I did, because I know that entrepreneurship is literally a series of trial and errors and marketing is the same way.

Christa: Like once you build your business, now you got to market your business and you need to put a message out there, see if it resonates with people. And if it doesn't, then you got to put something else out there and you got to keep trying. I'm not saying you'll never hear me say that entrepreneurship is easy, but it is possible and it's so much more possible when you're one available for the character development and when you have people around you that don't judge you, that believe in [01:27:00] you, that are holding space for you.

Christa: Those people are your community and those people are your coaches. For me, I am so incredibly passionate about the character development, the personal development, and the shadow work, um, that comes along with entrepreneurship because for me, it completely changed my life from the inside out. I mean, you heard me talk about where I was to where I am now.

Christa: And when I was explaining to you where I was, like, I didn't go so deep into the emotional state that I was in, but I was not high vibe. Maybe people thought that I was. I bet you if you ask any, anybody that I was friends with back in the day, they would have been like, we, we had no idea that you weren't happy.

Christa: And that's because when I went out. I would put on that smile or I would drink, right? Like drugs and alcohol is a big masking technique for people. It's a, it's an escapism. It's a way for people to escape their inner worlds. But the truth is you can never escape what's inside of your [01:28:00] subconscious. The only way to get over what's in your subconscious is to go through it.

Christa: It's to do that character development, to do that shadow work. It's to look at the world. It's to look at it, and to talk to somebody about it, and to journal about it, and to face it, and to cry about it. And then once you cry about it, actually, here's a fun fact for you that I think will really be helpful.

Christa: If you are fully indulged in an emotion, it passes after 90 seconds. So, if you're like, oh my god, I'm having a panic attack, and you just let yourself fucking panic, After 90 seconds, you will start calming down. If you are so sad about something, if you just let yourself cry into your pillow, after 90 seconds, you will start lifting your vibe.

Christa: If you are so angry, if you punch a pillow, if you box and you're really focused on how fucking angry you are, After 90 seconds, that anger will start to dissipate. It will leave your [01:29:00] body because you have released it physically from your body with punching, with screaming, with crying, with talking about it, with journaling about it.

Christa: If you're so high on life and so excited, if you just scream and jump up and down and just like throw your hands in the air and wave around and spin and spin and spit and just have the best time ever. Like after 90 seconds, you're gonna, you're gonna like, Fall on the ground in a spread eagle position in the grass, and now just like relish in the calm of how amazing that moment just was.

Christa: this is the thing, like, it's safe to feel your emotions, it's safe to process your emotions. I'm telling you that now, but society won't tell you that. Society will tell you that you better put on a brave face, and you better man up, and you better just You know, get through it because just whatever.

Christa: And then, and then that is why everybody drinks. And that is why so many people do drugs. And that's why people avoid therapy. It's why people's, there's still some stigma around therapy. Like it's just ridiculous. But, [01:30:00] you know, most of the world is not an entrepreneur. Most of the world is not following their dream life.

Christa: Most of the world is not going after their dreams. Most of the world is surrounded by other people who are living in the matrix and, um, everybody just wants to believe that they're doing things the right way. So that's why people that are doing things in that way will tell you that you're crazy or that you're a crybaby or whatever.

Christa: They'll make fun of you for being emotional. That's just not a healthy way to live. So, inside of the Digital Limit Life Academy, the way that I've incorporated this character development aspect is that every single module of business building, for example, like the very first module has a lot of shadow work exercises in it and a lot of shadow work lessons.

Christa: Like the very first module, once you, once you do the career assessment and I help you figure out the clarity of your business, When you're like, Oh my gosh, cool. Yeah, wait, this is a great idea for me. Like, I think I can do [01:31:00] this. I think I want to do this. Now, all of a sudden your fear of competition, your imposter syndrome, your, um, you know, worry about how are you going to get clients.

Christa: What if you fail? all of those emotions, all those shadows, they will, I guarantee you, they will come rushing in. That's just part of the process though. So when you're in the DNLA and you follow the coursework, you're not, I'm not just showing you how to do it. learn a skill. I'm not just showing you how to do market research.

Christa: I'm not just showing you how to get on a sales call. I'm not just showing you how to build up your Instagram. I'm also guiding you through the process of visualizing who are you most worried about judging you? And what is it that you think that they're saying? And these exercises Um, you know, they're meant to make you a little bit emotional, but that's because when you actually feel the emotion and you process it, now it leaves your body and you're able to become the next level version of [01:32:00] yourself because now you're at least aware of what's actually been holding you back and you will no longer self sabotage.

Christa: You will no longer procrastinate and you will no longer have to think that you are a lazy person. You're not a lazy person. You just have some shadows, which everybody does. Everybody has shadows. Everybody has demons. Um, some are bigger than others and it doesn't matter. Like some of the most successful entrepreneurs, when you listen to their stories, they actually come from very traumatic backgrounds, but they got over their shit.

Christa: They felt the emotions and they moved past it. And I bet you that they did that with support. I bet you that they did that with the five Cs, with clarity of where it is. That they're going with community by being supported by other people around them, who believed in them by coaching, having some kind of mentor with coursework, not trying to reinvent the wheel, but actually just following the fricking directions.

Christa: [01:33:00] And with character development, there's no way that all these really successful entrepreneurs got to where they are without understanding their own limitations.

Christa: So those are the five C's to make your life completely unrecognizable. And as you heard, the Digital Nomad Life Academy has been completely centered and built around these five C's. I'm so proud of this group. business around the people that are inside of it. Like the community, honestly, seriously, as I mentioned, it's so next level.

Christa: People are having meetups all around the world. They're collaborating with each other because they believe in one another, because they know that they have the other seas covered in the program. They can literally just Watch the video modules, follow it step by step, even if they are a complete beginner.

Christa: And if you're more advanced, you can just start the coursework at a more advanced position. Um, it really is suitable for people of all ages, of all backgrounds, of all skill [01:34:00] levels, at all starting points of all education. It doesn't matter. The DNLA is an incredibly inclusive community, which by the way, if you're LGBT, if you're of a different race, if you have a different accent.

Christa: You're so incredibly welcome. I love and so celebrate diversity inside of the DNLA. It just makes my day, um, when I can see people from all different cultures and backgrounds and ethnicities and, and belief systems collaborate. Like I, it just, it's my personal dream come true. What I wish for you, listener, is to have your dreams come true, whatever your dreams are.

Christa: But remember, you need to know what they are in the first place and don't fall into the trap of Believing that your dreams are too big. Don't fall into the trap of listening to other people tell you that it's unrealistic. Don't take advice from people who aren't where you want to be.

Christa: Take advice from someone who is where [01:35:00] you want to be. Find your mentorship, find your tribe, immerse yourself in their energy. and do the shadow work, do the character work, get into personal development, become a better person. And I promise you, when you follow these five C's, you will not even recognize your own life in the best way possible.

Christa: And you will have people coming out of the woodwork asking you, how did you do it? How did, how are you doing this? How did you go from that to this? How did you? lose the weight? How did you get the relationship? How did you build this business? How did you make the money? How did you get the promotion?

Christa: Whatever it is, whatever it is that you want to accomplish in your life, the five C's will take you there in the fastest way possible. So if you're listening to this episode because you want to become a digital nomad, probably if you heard the whole [01:36:00] you, are probably an amazing fit for the Digital Nomad Life Academy and I would love to meet you.

Christa: I'd love to get on a career assessment call with you. I'd love to just support you step by step in the journey of completely changing your life. You deserve to have your dreams and so much more. So if that's you, go to my profile. Christabella travels and slide into my DMS with the word apply. Answer the five questions.

Christa: Answer them thoroughly. Think about it. this is a big move, right? you don't have to accept, by the way, like, just because you apply, that doesn't mean you're necessarily going to commit to the program. But I do think that even the act of answering the questions will be a pretty big move.

Christa: Personal growth exercise for you anyway, because it will make you actually think about what the answers are. It will make you think about what your dream life is. It'll make you think about who you want to be and [01:37:00] why you are not yet that person and why you are not yet living the life that you want. It will make you think.

Christa: Describe to me the emotional state that you are in and the emotional state that you want to be. These are some thought provoking questions and I would say if nothing else, you can just consider that to be your first personal development exercise on your journey to changing your life. So slide into my DMs now at @christabellatravels with the word apply and you'll get that form, answer the questions again.

Christa: It's no commitment, but you deserve to have the life that you want and I can help you get there. I know that I can cause I've helped hundreds, countless other people do it too. So thank you so much for listening to this episode. I know it was a long one, um, but I hope you learned a lot. I hope you remember the five C's again.

Christa: That is clarity, community, coaching. coursework, and character development. [01:38:00] You got this. Okay, thanks so much for listening. I'll see you on the other side. See you in the next episode. Bye!