Reflect, Recharge, Reinvent: Living with Purpose in 2024

Sneak Peek:

Kristin:    00:00:00    So simple but so poignant. How today with technology are you able to move back and forth between that state of being highly connected and also a state of voluntary solitude where you can just be alone, spend time with your thoughts and connect with yourself?  

Introduction: Welcome to Badass Digital Nomads, where we're pushing the boundaries of remote work and travel, all while staying grounded with a little bit of old school philosophy, self-development, and business advice from our guests.

Kristin:    00:00:45    Hey there, Kristin Wilson from Traveling With Kristin here and Welcome to episode 240 of Badass Digital Nomads. We are back after a two week break over the holidays that I wasn't sure if I was going to take a break or need a break, but it turns out that that really was the right decision for me having come off a pretty intense travel schedule since as far back as really the summer, I would say at least September 1st with a lot of speaking engagements and conferences and teaching my relocation program and then of course our normal schedule of podcasts. Uh, weekly podcasts and videos. So I just wanted to take some time with family, especially after the Nomad Cruise and sailing from Spain to Brazil and uh, traveling a bit through Brazil was really looking forward to getting back to my home state of Florida and just taking some time off, hanging with family and friends and just reflecting on  the year as we all like to do at the start or end of the year.  

Kristin:    00:02:06    It hasn't been all fun and games though as I've also been going through a pretty tough breakup during the first two weeks of the year, which is never fun. And I don't usually talk about personal stuff on the podcast, but that's just added another layer of complexity to these first two weeks of the year and I've just been sad. So we're on good terms and everything, it's just living in different countries, long distance is tough. But anyway, in the first or last podcast of the year, I like to do a bit of a year in review and share some of the things that I've been reflecting on through the year. So maybe some of this is helpful for you and your journey. And I actually listened back to a couple of the past episodes from the past few years and it's interesting to see how your priorities change and your goals change and what's on your mind changes.  

Kristin:    00:03:16    So it's just a reminder that if there's something that's been weighing on your mind a lot, then time heals all wounds and time also gives us that space for reflection and learning in our lives. And serendipitously all of the books that I've been reading to start out the year have all converged on similar things. So I'm really looking forward to sharing some of my biggest takeaways from these books with you and how that relates to some of the themes that I've been pondering over the year. But as much as I mentioned that, you know, I don't usually talk about personal relationship stuff on this podcast, this podcast is about life. It's about personal development in addition to travel and entrepreneurship and living abroad because we're so fortunate to live in a time of history where all of these things fit together and and life can involve a lot of different themes and and categories and you can combine them together to create a better life.  

Kristin:    00:04:37    And that's what we're all here for on this podcast, to thrive in your career, in your hobbies, to enjoy your retirement, to seek challenges, to uncover tips for new adventures, and to ultimately find connection around the world, connection to people, connection to places, and connection to yourself. Because every time you leave home, you change a little bit, but you can also experience it just in your day-to-day life. And I now have some science from that to back it up. So whether you're living, you know, nomadic lifestyle or you are living at home and a traditional lifestyle, but you just tune into this podcast to get some inspiration and ideas for things that you might wanna do in the future, it's all part of the process and it's all part of the journey. So have a few thoughts on this from these books that I've been reading and I'll share that with you in just a moment as well as some practical resources at the end to help you achieve your goals this year and the framework that I use for setting my goals every year that I learned through a mastermind.  

Kristin:    00:06:07    But first, I just wanna start out with some thank you's and some gratitude. First and foremost to our team behind the scenes who help make this podcast possible. Every week we have lovely Kayla who has been updating our website and writing podcast show notes and creating graphics and social media designs for three years now. Also, TJ, my assistant from the Philippines who just recently relocated to England. She helps with the podcast and YouTube transcripts as well as email, social media, our Badass Digital Nomads Facebook group really appreciate her contribution, week in, week out. Also guest Gaston is our esteemed editor, and Penny is our project manager who have also been working with us for two or three years now. So big thanks and shout out to our production team as well as two you each and every one of you. I love sharing some stats at the end of the year as well so you can get an idea of what it looks like behind the scenes of the podcast and where everyone is tuning in from.  

Kristin:    00:07:24    It's always fascinating to see, especially because we all love travel, right? So this year we had tens of thousands of listeners from around the globe with more than 167,000 downloads from 170 countries, including Monaco, Bon Air and Saba, the Northern Marina Islands near Guam and Djibouti, which I think are new countries on the list. The podcast has been downloaded almost 500,000 times now, which is a new milestone in the life of Badass Digital Nomads, which has been live on the air since May of 2019. I'll also share with you the top three most downloaded episodes in case one of these were one of your favorite. We have in first place How to Find or Become a Virtual Assistant in 2023. Second, Becoming a Self-Made Entrepreneur and Creative with Niklas Göke, one of my favorite people. And in third place, The Best Places To Travel in 2023 with runner up, How to Improve Your Health & Wellness By Moving Abroad

Kristin:    00:08:45    And you can find all of those on badassdigitalnomads.com by just searching in the search bar. And you can also check out older episodes by searching by topic or tag. So if you're looking for something about taxes or sailing or living abroad as a family, you can find that there. I also wanna thank everyone who left a review this year or who joined my Patreon, everyone who bought a coffee or supported in some way by just listening and being here as well as sharing the podcast or recommending it to someone that you know who you think might like it or or recommending it on your social media. Special shout out to Jeff Wright who sent a $50 donation through Buy Me a Coffee for Christmas, which I really appreciate, as well as Natasha at Mazama Wellness, Julie DeAngelo, DudeBri, Rachel and Henry, who also recently bought me Decaf Coffees <laugh> since I'm not drinking caffeine anymore.  

Kristin:    00:09:52    And of course all of my Patreon patrons, some of whom like Scott and Alex, I'll be able to meet in person this April and Portugal for our first Traveling with Kristin Group retreat. So if you want to join us April 15th to the 21st, the deadline to sign up is February 25th and you can check out the itinerary and all the details in the show notes in addition to reviews. I also really love reading your emails. I get a nice note from Paul K recently who said, I just wanna let you know that I really appreciate your podcast and receive a lot of value from it. You seem to take your time and don't feel rushed, which is a nice listening experience. He says, I so resonate with life in the US being fast paced and expensive, and I'm looking to slow it down with more good living, less work, and less busy culture.  

Kristin:    00:10:52    If I ever decide to relocate, you would be my first choice to consult with, but for now, I'm testing the waters with short trips. Thanks Paul, for that note. And speaking of moving abroad, if you or someone you know is preparing to move overseas in the next year or so and you want someone to be there for you and just guide you through the process, someone who's been there, done that, that's me. My private group coaching program Ready to Relocate is officially open for enrollment for 2024. And this is my signature program where I teach you step by step how to move to another country, something I've been helping people do since 2011. And you can just experience more peace of mind and less stress during your move that everything is taken care of. This will be the fourth year running that we've had Ready to Relocate available as an option for you now.  

Kristin:    00:11:52    And you can apply for support at TravelingwithKristin.com/relocation or just go to TravelingwithKristin.com and click on relocation at the top. And finally, just to get you brought up to speed with everything, our annual poll is now available. So if you like, you can take a moment to fill out our annual feedback form and let me know what you liked, what you didn't like, and what you want to hear more of this year. And I'll link to that poll in the show notes. It's been very popular in the past. And I also select five people who fill out the poll for free. 30 minute one-on-one calls with me. So if you want a chance to win a free phone call with me, then fill out our podcast feedback poll in the show notes. So whew, I think that's all of the uh, housekeeping that we have for today.  

Kristin:    00:12:53    Little annual review there. But yeah, let's jump into some of these themes that I've been thinking about and maybe you've been thinking about them too. So the first theme for this year that has become something of a New Year's resolution for me is digitally detoxing. Now, this is such a kind of cliche buzzword, the digital detox, but I'm actually doing a 30 day digital detox to kick off the year. I'm halfway through it so far and it's been great, to be honest. I am starting to feel like just a human again. Although I do spend still a lot of time on screens behind my computer, but just turning off the TV, not watching Netflix, not going on Instagram or Facebook unless there's something I need to post, but not doom scrolling, you know? And I've already read four books in the first two weeks and not even spending a lot of time just in spare moments that would usually go to distraction or when I am eating lunch, something like that, or even in bed, instead of looking at my phone, I've been reading a book.  

Kristin:    00:14:16    I know, I mean it seems obvious. Just read a book before bed. That's what we used to do before we had screens. But according to Digital Minimalism, which is one of the books that I just finished reading, this is by Cal Newport, author of Deep Work and So Good They Can't Ignore You Fame, research he has in that book shows that we check our phones on average 85 times a day for three hours per day, which if you look at your screen time, that could be you, that was definitely me. Although, you know, it also counts maps and podcasts and things that you use, but you can look at where you're spending that time in your screen time report and just see if that's where you want to be spending that time. But a big theme of digital minimalism, which I highly recommend reading, it's quite an easy quick read, but it gives you a lot of value and bang for your buck.  

Kristin:    00:15:12    He talks about how this phone time interferes with solitude, mindfulness, and sanity to be honest, and talks a lot about how screen time can't replace quality in person interactions. But how many of us have fooled ourselves into thinking that it can, we think that if we have hundreds or thousands of connections online, that that's somehow better than maintaining a handful of high quality friendships. And I like to think that they go together as a person who has thousands of connections and and friendships online. I felt like I have been prioritizing those conversations more than just picking up the phone to call a friend who lives in a different state or a different country that I haven't talked to in a while. And the outcome of this is loneliness. And loneliness is a topic that we've talked about on the podcast before when it comes to loneliness in travel.  

Kristin:    00:16:20    But you can also feel lonely anywhere. And a big culprit, culprit for that loneliness is your phone. And so he actually defines what he calls solitude deprivation, and it's a state in which you spend close to zero alone time with your thoughts and without any input from other minds. So other sources or websites, apps, screens, people online, social media. And although it might seem a bit counterintuitive, solitude is actually critical for not feeling lonely. You can spend all day scrolling social media, and it won't make us feel more connected. It can actually have the opposite effect by making us feel lonelier, lonelier. And so by having some detachment away from that and having some solitude and time to reflect on a regular basis, not just at the beginning of the year or the end of the year, this can be a way to feel more at peace and more at ease in your life.  

Kristin:    00:17:36    And he mentions that this is exactly what Thoreau was looking for when he went to Walden Pond to spend time and do his writing. It was the ability to move back and forth between a state of solitude and a state of connection. So simple, but so poignant. How today with technology are you able to move back and forth between that state of being highly connected and also a state of voluntary solitude where you can just be alone, spend time with your thoughts and connect with yourself. And that's something that I've been feeling like has been missing or lacking in my life over the past year. And I've already read books on this. I read a book called How to Break Up with Your Phone. I read Smart Phone, Dumb Phone by Allen Carr's team, and those worked temporarily, but I'm still looking for a permanent solution.  

Kristin:    00:18:45    And you know, travel can actually help as long as you're traveling or living abroad and a pace that's suitable for you. But what I like about travel is that it gives you the opportunity to be alone with yourself while at the same time connecting with other people in real life. And of course we're still going to use technology and you can use technology to even figure out where you're going, get there, get travel tips, guidance, recommendations, all of that great stuff. But when you're having these new experiences when you travel, it helps you to live more in the moment and get out of that vicious cycle of online scrolling all the time. I was thinking about this a lot when I was in Brazil last month, just before Christmas. I was there with probably one or 200 people from the Nomad Cruise, but we were all staying in different places and it was a really nice balance of being able to work from home from my apartment there, but then meet up with people for dinner or go for a walk on the beach with somebody.  

Kristin:    00:20:03    And I really felt for that week that I was there in this island called Mojo de Sao Paolo, that it was like this nice balance between having good wifi, being connected online, being able to work, but then also using that technology to meet up with people in real life. And also having a lot of moments to myself where I could just walk down to the beach at sunrise or sunset, just sit on a chair, stare at the water and just kind of tune out, but tune in to my own thoughts. And so that is something I wanted to leave with you as, as a insight as we head into the new year. But you don't even have to travel to get this benefit. You could just put your phone away sometimes. And I've been so cognizant of this pattern this year that even getting to Florida and being at my childhood home and going out, walking the dog every morning and every night without my phone, I have met so many amazing people.  

Kristin:    00:21:15    Right behind my house, <laugh>, I met a woman named Ellie, whose daughter lives in Ecuador with her grandson. I met a man named John who likes to do Tai Chi or Qigong on the beach every morning. And I met a mother of two named Erin who told me tonight that she wants to learn how to surf this year. And I've had all these great conversations with people just walking the dog and I probably wouldn't have had them and or talked to them if I had my phone with me or had my earbuds plugged in 24/7. And one of the researchers that Newport quotes in Digital Minimalism is his name is Lieberman, and he says, the loss of social connection triggers the same system as physical pain in the body given that pain drives our behavior. This underscores the importance of real in-person relationships to our species and quote.  

Kristin:    00:22:17    So as I mentioned, this is not to say that we should completely cut technology out of our lives, but setting healthy boundaries and limits to how much we let it dictate our mood, our day, our schedule, and most importantly how we spend our personal time offline is important. So definitely pick up a copy of Digital Minimalism if you'd like to learn more or try your own digital detox. I'll link to it in the show notes. And another thing that can interrupt your solitude, your peace of mind and your happiness as well as our phones and devices, is actually being too busy, which is really driven a lot by how much time we spend online and how much quality time we leave ourselves at the end of the day. After spending all of that time online and after leaving the US again in October of 2022, I've now been abroad for over a year and three months except for right now that I'm back in the US. Well, coming back to the US I've been thinking a lot about the American mindset of busyness and how it doesn't exist on the same level when you go outside of the us but also how I have tended to bring that mindset with me when I leave the US.  

Kristin:    00:24:03    And there was a moment when I was living in Manchester and I almost said no to going to a barbecue with people that I had just met there that invited me to their house for a barbecue because I felt like I had too much to do and it was a Sunday. And so I went <laugh>, he said yes. But I had a few of those scenarios throughout my six months living in England this past year, and my British friends commented on it. So whether you are a manager or you're working a nine to five job or you're working for yourself or you're a freelancer, there can be a lot of time creep into your free time that spills over from your work life. And I think that goes for if you have um, a job in a fixed location or you work remotely or whatever it is.  

Kristin:    00:25:04    But I do notice that that the extent of the busyness, it seems to be exclusively a US condition, at least it's the most extreme in the US And it's actually what Paul was mentioning in his message to me that I read earlier about how the, like the busy mindset in the US you could definitely relate to. And I read this old article from 2012 on New York Times that I'll link to in the show notes. And it says that question that we ask our each other, how are you when the answer is I'm busy when we say that. He writes that he thinks it means I know what I'm doing, but I'm disconnected from my why or where it's leading. And I've definitely been guilty of that. And people are like, oh, how are you busy? I think that only Americans would answer that question that that way. But it's also probably why I spend so much time in my life and also in coaching people in tracing back to why you're doing things. Tim Creter writes, the space and quiet that idleness provides is a necessary condition for standing back from life and seeing it whole for making unexpected connections and waiting for the wild summer lightning strikes of inspiration. It is paradoxically necessary to getting any work done.  

Kristin:    00:26:48    Idle dreaming is often the essence of what we do. Wrote Thomas Pension in his essay on sloth, this really goes back to Cal Newport's points in Digital Minimalism and talking about thorough at Walden Pond, the ability to move back and forth between a state of solitude and connection, a state of busyness and idleness. This is this balance that I think that so many of us strive for, especially if you're still in the workforce and especially if you are living in a capitalist economy, which again, I wouldn't change as far as the technology we have access to the time that we're living in. But these are new challenges and ideas for each of us to think through and to really figure out what is the right recipe for you? How much leisure time, how much travel, how much work, how much new hobbies or family time, just really going back to what's important.  

Kristin:    00:28:11    And I felt a little caught out today, even when the dog wanted to go out and she was whining and I was telling her, okay Chloe, five more minutes, 10 more minutes, five more minutes. Because I was trying to finish something on the computer and I just turned around and looked at her little face and she looked so sad, she just wanted to go out. Granted it was only four o'clock and I usually take her out at five o'clock, but you know, I just took her out earlier because I thought it's more important for this dog to be happy and for us to go walk on the beach, I can finish whatever I'm doing later. And this all leads me to another idea, how to spend time that I've been pondering since, especially being in Europe this year and doing a lot of people watching and and traveling a lot and seeing how people spend their time in different countries and seeing the similarities and the differences between them.  

Kristin:    00:29:13    Most of the similarities being a lot of family time, a lot of leisure time, and just a lot of relaxation and togetherness, at least in public from what I can see much more than what I typically see when I'm back in the US. And coincidentally, when I got back to Florida after the holidays, there was a book on my bookshelf that I found called How to Spend Time. I don't, I don't know where it came from, I don't remember buying it, but I'm almost done with this book. And it's one of those books that you might wanna read it three or four times, <laugh>, but it did remind me that time is a finite resource and it's arguably the most valuable commodity we have. This book tries to prove using scientific research, what is the best way to spend our time. And I like that it was written by a Britt and not an American.  

Kristin:    00:30:14    But a big takeaway I've had from this book is how to get into a flow state, which is either mental or physical and how the common characteristic of getting into a flow state is that struggle has to exist and also struggle is necessary to feel happiness and to feel fulfillment. So when we exert energy into a tough physical challenge like running a marathon or the mental challenge of solving a math problem, getting through those challenges releases endorphins. It's a reward system, makes us feel happier. But he also talks about how you can enter this flow state through travel, by crafting experiences that excite you, inspire you, and help you to be in the moment when you're having them because it's something that is totally new to you and that you've never done before. And this is something I've talked about in other podcasts about how you can be more present when you're traveling because your senses and your brain are all working together to try to figure out basic things like how to get around, where to find food and water and shelter.  

Kristin:    00:31:38    And I like that he talked about this in the book as well as a way to achieve flow state. But being present in these experiences also usually means putting away your screens. So this connects with the whole digital detox, Digital Minimalism theme. So whether you're taking in the view from Mount Mart and Paris or just noticing how the sunlight streams through the trees while you're driving along the road on your commute or riding along on a train, he says that these exciting peak experiences should also be balanced with simple pleasures. And a simple way to think about this, if you want to experience more mindful moments or more time, more spend more time in a flow state this year, is to think about snapshots from your life. So to remember that we experience life through snapshots of memories or moments and then we string them together, we fill in the blanks to tell a story of our past.  

Kristin:    00:32:57    So something that you could do as we start out the new year is to think of some moments that stand out to you as being particularly enjoyable. So it could be something that just happened this month, this year, 20 years ago, doesn't matter. You could just meditate for a few minutes on it and see what pops into your mind. Just think of a pleasant moment that you've had recently and what did that involve? And chances are it involved other people or a nice place. And you know, probably not your computer or phone. So you'll probably have some big moments and you'll have some small moments, you know, a big moment. It could be getting married, speaking on a stage, achieving a goal, going on a dream vacation, hiking to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. It could be like a big major moment that really made you happy, but it could also be some small moments.  

Kristin:    00:34:02    And for me, when I was doing this exercise, some, some memories that came to mind that I really cherished and enjoy this year were just slow, quiet mornings in the backyard of my cottage in Northern England where I would just wake up and sit outside and eat fruit in the garden and drink tea and watch the sunrise every morning. But it wasn't raining <laugh> and it wasn't freezing cold. But is little moments like that. So write down a list of small moments and big moments from the year or from the past few years and think about how you can add more moments like that to your life this year. So maybe you wanna add more of the same kinds of moments. Maybe in my case I wanna look for more Airbnbs with a garden so I can sit outside and drink tea and eat fruit, but also some different ones, things that you've never done before.  

Kristin:    00:35:00    Because as the saying goes, variety is the spice of life and doing something differently, whether it's ordering a different dish at your favorite restaurant that you've been to a million times, or visiting a country you've never been to before. It's having this balance of the familiar, the comforting, the routine, and the personally fulfilling small experiences in life mixed with things that also stretch you and challenge you and put you out of your comfort zone. And that is key. That's actually my fourth and final theme of the podcast today. Living outside of your comfort zone. Another very overused and cliche thing to say, but this came up because there were so many times this year where I just thought to myself, I'm living in a constant state of discomfort in a good way. If you've ever seen that YouTube channel, Yes Theory, they have the slogan, seek discomfort.  

Kristin:    00:36:12    And I felt like I was in those uncomfortable stretch scenarios so many times just on a regular basis throughout the year, giving a presentation or training new people or hosting an event or saying yes to playing a DJ set of nineties music that I had two hours to prepare for on Nomad Cruise, <laugh>, or even just talking to strangers on the street for a YouTube video. Humans were built to overcome challenges and creating this podcast and creating videos, working for myself and my own business. These have all been ways that have pushed me outta my comfort zone, learning how to DJ and play music and produce music. It can be a physical challenge, it can be a mental challenge. What whatever it is that that you choose, the challenge and the struggle are really key for living a fulfilling life. And the author of this book Time and How to Spend It  agrees.  

Kristin:    00:37:26    So his name is James Wallman and he notes that there are four elements to the model of the neuroscience of flow, flow being the optimal state for a human being. And it starts with struggle. So it starts with being outside of your comfort zone. There need to be four phases, struggle, release, flow and recovery. So you can't get to the flow state without struggle and you can't get that natural serotonin rush without stretching yourself in some way. So it can be counterintuitive that each time you feel that resistance to do something, whether it's stretching yourself to learn a new language or changing jobs or starting or ending a relationship, or running one of those Tough Mudder obstacle courses, those mud races, how will you answer the call? How will you answer your call to do something scary? What is that thing that you wanna do that feels scary or uncomfortable for you?  

Kristin:    00:38:49    And lean into that. And Steven Pressfield talks a lot about the resistance preventing us from doing creative work and from really living a fulfilling life because he says that the resistance can come up with all kinds of excuses and reasons why you can't do something. And one of the big excuses that I had for a long time was time related, which brings me back to those topics on Time and How to spend it on busyness. Like, oh yeah, I would love to do that when I have time. And I hear that a lot as well with some of my prospective clients who have been planning to move abroad or travel or do something like that for many years and haven't done it yet 'cause it hasn't been the right time. So when you're looking at your goals for the year, you're thinking about how you wanna spend your time, also look for the struggle, like ask yourself, where's the struggle in this thing that I wanna do?  

Kristin:    00:39:59    But also knowing that you can experience the struggle and you can change your mind. Like when I signed up to learn how to sail, I realized I didn't like sailing and I wrecked the boat a bunch of times. And after two or three classes I abandoned that <laugh>, that challenge. That challenge was not for me. And you know what I, I love sailing when other people are sailing the boat for me, but I don't want to be the sailor. But on the other hand, it took me three years to learn how to DJ, but it was something that I didn't abandon. I just did it in small amounts of time. So don't worry if you go for a challenge and then you don't like it. There was someone I was talking to recently, I can't remember who it was, but oh, I think it was Simone's wife, Simone Vincenzi, who's who was on our podcast.  

Kristin:    00:40:52    I'll link to his episode as well. This was at dinner in Madeira Island over a year ago and I think she was telling this story about how she signed up for this race, I think it was in England. And they had to run over three mountains in one day. I think it was a 24 hour race. So you'd have to go up the mountain, summit the peak, come down the other side, get in the car, go to the next mountain, climb the second mountain and repeat and do the third mountain. And she said she was just asking herself, why is she doing this? She's like, I don't have anything to prove to myself. I didn't get any fulfillment out of it. It was horrible. 'cause your muscles get cold when you're coming down the mountain and then you have to get in the car and go up the other side.  

Kristin:    00:41:38    And so you could end up having an experience like that that becomes a funny story that then gets told on someone else's podcast. So this is another thing that James Wallman saying in this book on how to, how to spend your time is that the uncomfortable experiences can usually be some of the most memorable and the ones that you look back on with more humor and affinity. So the podcast is already gone pretty long today, so I'm going to save the goal setting framework for next week's podcast. But just to recap some of the resources related to these themes that I'll link to in the show notes below, if the idea of doing a digital detox appeals to you, I recommend Cal Newport's book Digital Minimalism. If you feel like you're too busy and time is passing too quickly, then I'll link to this New York Times article from 2012 and maybe you can relate to that.  

Kristin:    00:42:48    And then I'll also link to this book on Time and How to Spend It because it acts as a guide for how to create memorable experiences in your life. And it's also a guide on how to spend your time, so time that you can take back and save from too much time on screens or over work or even if you are retired or semi-retired. I met some retired military members, digital nomads, passive income nomads who were on the nomad cruise. And they were also expressing that they didn't have enough ways to fill their time. So this is two sides of the same coin, being too busy to enjoy your time or not having enough clarity or passion or knowledge about how to spend your time with purpose. Even if you have enough money that you never have to work again and you're 35 years old or whatever it is, this book can help you come up with some ideas.  

Kristin:    00:44:01    There's a lot of good exercises in that book to identify ways that you can start to live life differently and making small changes that get really big impactful results in your level of happiness, in your level of quality of life, even without leaving the country. And then finally on living outside of your comfort zone. Something that changed for me was when one of my first YouTube subscribers died of cancer before he could achieve his dream of sailing around the world. And so I also did another podcast, episode 140 called Life is Short, Seize the Day, No Regrets and you can check that out if you're interested. But the big takeaway with uh, living outside of your comfort zone is just remembering that achieving flow state or achieving hard things all start with struggle, but they end with reward. I hope that these four themes gave you a lot to think about and some things to act on as we go into the new year.  

Kristin:    00:45:17    And I'm even glad that it's two weeks into the year because I feel like a lot of the New Year's content comes out exactly on January 1st and it's like, hold on, you know, we just got through the holidays. Let's take a minute. If you're Cal Newport, he starts his New Year's planning back in September. But if you're still kind of getting your bearings for the year and um, things have maybe slowed down a bit after the holiday season, this could be a good time to reflect on these things. Pick up a new book and maybe put down your phone for a few more minutes or hours per day. And just to leave you with a little dose of extra inspiration before I did my digital detox, uh, series that I just finished watching that only has four episodes, is called Live to Be 100 on Netflix.  

Kristin:    00:46:14    And I'm sure many of you have seen it, but if you haven't, then it takes you to all of the different Blue Zones around the world where there's a high concentration of centenarians or people who live to be 100. And it talks about the attributes of those locations and the people there. And you'll find that a lot of the themes that I came across in, in these books and what I was talking about today in the podcast, a lot of that is really present in this Netflix series where it's not just talking about good food and exercise, but also community connection with people. All of these things that we now know that research has proven are beneficial for our health, our wellness, our happiness, and also our longevity. So happy New Year again. I'm wishing you all of the best and much success in the coming years.  

Kristin:    00:47:21    If you are a long time listener of the podcast, then welcome back. Thanks for joining me again this year. And if you're new then it's nice to meet you and I look forward to seeing you again. Next week we'll be back with my goal setting podcast and then a lot more new content for the year and a new long list of amazing people to sit down and talk with. And I can't wait to share those conversations with you. Remember to check out the show notes for links to all of the resources that I mentioned today.