Good morning from Penang!

I’m listening to jazz music, typing in my new home office with a view of the trees, ocean and hills. Frankly, I didn’t know that people could live affordably in a place as beautiful as this. I thought it was for the rich and connected. But here I am, in an apartment just right for one person and two cats. I’ve always been curious about the digital nomad life, so this was a good opportunity to “test pilot” it to see if I will like this lifestyle.

Here’s the view from my office table. No lie.

As I’m typing this, I’m reflecting on how massively my life has changed since 2012. Since 2012 I have:

• Changed careers. Twice
• Doubled my salary
• Worked remotely
• Became 100% debt free

For the first 12 years of my career, I was coasting. Happy to stay in the same place, in the same profession for years on end. Then, in 2010 I grew restless; feeling “if I don’t do this now, then when?”. Just exactly what “this” was, I don’t know.

So, I leapt. It was impulsive, without much plan or a thought of why I was doing it — I quit my job and moved to Australia.

Since then, I’ve made several more leaps. At a rate that, well, was unprecedented if you knew me circa 2000-2012. I’ve changed professions, jobs, companies, locations … lifestyles. Along the way, I’ve learned how not to be so impulsive but to execute change more methodically and with purpose.

Although I learned so much during my 3-year sojourn in Australia, I wouldn’t recommend doing it the way I did. I ignored the warning signs my body gave me; I interpreted the fear and sleepless nights as cowardice. Now I realised that my body was trying to tell me that I needed to sit down and gain more clarity before making the move.

Due to my lack of understanding of why I wanted the change, my move did not align with my desires. What I wanted in 2012 was to change careers and overhaul my lifestyle. I chose a romantic destination … but that move didn’t match what I wanted deep inside for my career. It did not, especially, align with my financial goals. I’m still recovering from the 3-year setback to my finances.

After coming to that sober realisation in 2015, I moved back home to Malaysia.

I did not, as my management consultant colleagues would say, mitigate the risk of the change.

Still, I don’t regret the move. I just wished I executed it better.

Test the change

I learned a very important concept when it comes to changing your life: Test pilot the change you want.

We human beings are terrible at knowing what’s right for us. For example, I was pretty sure that a career in nursing would be the one for me. Fortunately, I didn’t jump headlong into a Registered Nursing degree and effectively torpedo my financial goals further by getting deeply into debt. Instead, I test piloted the profession by being a nursing assistant instead. Good move. However, I nearly nuked my writing career in the process.

Fortunately, I retained the thread to my writing career by freelancing for clients and my former company, and starting a self-publishing venture.

A good experiment would be to continue working as a journalist in Malaysia while volunteering at nursing homes and speaking to nurses about the realities of the nursing life.

So I’ve learned my lesson.

Instead of leaping into the digital nomad life, I’m test piloting it with this stay in Penang. Will I enjoy it? Or will I be desperately lonely, missing my friends and family?

I’ve also toyed with getting some cat babies for the longest time. Instead of getting a cat from the shelter right away, I decided to live with a few for a while, to see if I can manage it. And, ahem, to see if I’m allergic to them.

So, if you want to change your life. Do two things first:

1. Get clarity on why you want the change. Then be clear on what kind of change you want — the vision of the future you want.
2. To be sure that this vision of the future is really suitable for you, test pilot it. Talk to people, perform experiments by volunteering or freelancing, dip your toes into it without nuking your existing life.
3. Once you’re sure that this is definitely what you want, come up with an execution plan.

Have a good weekend, everyone!