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Do you ever feel totally stuck and like

you’ll never become a digital nomad? !
Welcome to the club! Because that’s how I felt for the longest time. And to be
100% honest, sometimes I still struggle with imposter syndrome, fear of failure, (the
whole shebang), although I’ve already been living the digital nomad lifestyle for 4+
years!

Crazy right?

Here’s the thing though: the biggest challenge on my personal digital nomad
journey has hands down been my mindset.Comparing myself to others. Shiny
Object Syndrome. Overthinking EVERYTHING (heck, I even overthought creating
this workbook for like 3 weeks!).

The bad news is, it might be a lifelong challenge, did you know even Michelle
Obama struggles with imposter syndrome? 😳

But the good news is, I believe you totally have what it takes to be a digital nomad
girl! It’s just a matter of believing in yourself, working on your mindset and being
willing to learn the skills and work hard (at least in the beginning) to make it happen.

In this workbook I will address some of the biggest mindset challenges when it
comes to being a digital nomad. And I’m not going to tell you to ‘manifest and all
will be good’ or to have ‘good vibes only’. Nope. None of that.

We’ll be digging a little and then we’ll do some exercises.

Bit I did design this workbook to be a positive experience, to hep you break things
down, and see them in a different light.

Most importantly it’s being aware that these things are struggles and that you're not
alone!

So, get yourself a nice cuppa tea and let’s get started!

Jenny xxx

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 1. What if I fail?
Let’s start with the most obvious one: The Fear of Failure! It is something we all know,
and whatever you're trying to do it'll always be there. Ok, so that’s out of the way.

The best way to handle this one is to not try to ignore it but to become aware of what
you're scared of. And then analyse the crap out of it. 😎

I like to play the worst-case-scenario game, (or you can google Tim Ferriss' Fear
Setting Exercise for a more detailed version).

Here are the questions:

1. What are you scared of failing at? What is the absolute worst case scenario?

2. If this scenario would happen, what would you do in order to turn things around?
Write it down step by step.

3. What would you then have to do to get back to the exact same situation you're in
now?

4. How likely is it that this worst case scenario will actually happen? from 1-10

5. And what long-term impact would it have on the rest of your life? From 1-10

6. What is the potential risk of NOT following your dream?

__________________________

Let’s try it! What are you currently most scared of failing at? And what is the worst that
could happen if you did fail:

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If this scenario would happen, what would you do in order to turn things around? Write it
down step by step.

What would you then have to do to get back to the exact same situation you're in now?

How likely is it that this worst case scenario will actually happen? from 1-10

And what long-term impact would it have on the rest of your life? From 1-10

What is the potential risk of NOT following your dreams?

Mantra to remember: "Trying and failing is learning.

Not trying is failing."

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 2. Am I good enough?
Feeling like you're not good enough or that you're not 'legit' is totally normal.

It also sucks. Often this can be related to imposter syndrome, the feeling that no matter
how much experience you have, how skilled you are, how many degrees you have even,
you're still not good enough and sooner or later 'they' will 'find out you're a fraud’. $

Here's how I like to handle imposter syndrome:

First, think about whether you actually, REALLY are an imposter, because sometimes we
are and that's fine.

Am I really an imposter?
yes no

That’s cool. You can take a You’re definitely good

course and learn new skills. 🤓 enough. 😘

If you’re just struggling with imposter syndrome despite having skills and being a total
badass (as I expect you are) then you need to remind yourself over and over of all the
amazing things you've already achieved in life. It’s not about bragging, it’s about owning
our successes and achievements without cringing.

One of the best ways to do this is to create an achievement board or a Reverse Bucket
List. Instead of writing down the things you want to achieve in the future, you write
down all the great things you've already done in your life. You might be surprised at the
outcome. Bonus points if you create a collage or another creative way of displaying your
wins.

Mantra: "Am I good enough? Yes I am." - Michelle Obama

Use the next page to start jotting down some of your achievements from your whole life!
Small and big things! Personal, professional, hobbies, trips, friendships, sports,
everything!

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My Reverse Bucket List:

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 3. Your friends & family simply
don't get what you want
This is a tough one and to a certain extent I think every digital nomad I’ve ever met has
struggled with that in one way or another.

I think as soon as we try to do something totally different from what we’ve been doing
so far (and what most people in our lives see as ‘normal’) we will always encounter a
certain amount of confusion and often people will try to discourage this.

Here’s how I’ve learned to handle friends’ and family’s lack of encouragment:

1. Always remember your WHY

This is so crucial and I still remind myself of my WHY almost every single day. You are
the only one who needs to know WHY you want to do what you want to do. That’s
enough.

2. Don’t try to change anyone’s mind

Sure, you care about your friends and family and want them to be excited for you, but
there’s no point using up huge amounts of energy trying to justify your dreams to others.
Yes, you can explain and answer their questions, but don’t try to convince them or
change their minds if they don’t get or support it after a while.

3. It’s all about love

If you encounter a lot of worrying from some of your friends or family members then
remember that most often they just want to protect you. You’re trying something totally
new and they are probably just worried and want to protect you because they love you.
Give them time and prove to them that this is a ‘real’ lifestyle and that you can handle it.

4. Surround yourself with people who get you

This is the most important thing of all! You have to meet people who want the same
thing and are excited about the same things as you. Imagine starting a conversation
with “I was working on my new business this morning and I had an idea for a new
course.” and now imagine not having to justify yourself because your new nomad friend
is just as excited about the idea as you are!

Doesn’t that just make all the difference?

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Remind yourself of your WHY. Why do you want to be location independent? (no matter
what that exactly looks like to you. Maybe you want to travel non-stop, maybe you just
want to be able to work from home to spend more time with your kids).

What drives you:

Surround yourself with other nomad girls. You could introduce yourself in the DNG
Facebook Group and find someone in there to meet up for coffee. Check out local
entrepreneur groups or meet-ups or try out a few coworking spaces, they often host
events. What will you do to meet like-minded people?

What will you do to meet new, like-minded people?

Mantra: "I don't need to justify my dreams to anyone."

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 4. Comparing yourself to Others
This is one of my biggest mindset challenges, even to this day.

Especially on social media, it’s almost impossible not to compare yourself to others,
usually people you really admire.

In the olden days people just compared themselves to class mates, colleagues, friends.
But now we have the whole world and the most successful people on the planet to
compare ourselves too. It’s a lose-lose situation.

How do we stop doing it?

Awareness is key. Pay attention to all the people you compare yourself to and ask
yourself these questions:

1. What do I admire about them?

2. What traits or values do I share with them?

3. How much further ahead in their journey are they than I am right now?

If it gets really unhealthy, then I’d seriously suggest unfollowing people who you
compare yourself to most. There’s just no point in wasting your energy on this. You are
you and you are on your own path.

Fun tip: if you compare yourself to someone specific on the internet who you think is
'perfect', use Wayback Machine to check out what the first version of their website
looked like :) I bet this will put things into perspective!

Another thing that really helps with this is to start practising gratitude for all the things
you've already achieved.

And remember, you simply don’t know what the people you compare yourself have been
through. It might all look rosy and perfect on the outside, but that’s just social media.
They’re real people and they have someone they’re comparing themselves too.

Make this your mantra: "Don't compare your chapter 1 to

someone else's chapter 10."

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Pick the person you most compare yourself to:

What do I admire about them?

What traits or values do I share with them?

How much further ahead in their journey are they than I am right now?

“Comparison is an act of violence against the self”

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 5. Shiny Object Syndrome
Shiny object syndrome is when you simply can't focus on ONE thing because want to
do all. the. things. You keep jumping between projects, ideas, businesses, oh hello
squirrel! 🐿 And you overthink every option like crazy.

This is especially common amongst creative people and entrepreneurs, which many
digital nomads are.

As I mentioned in the intro, I overthought this workbook for weeks jumping between an
idea for a workbook which then turned into a challenge, then into a mini video course,
and back to a workbook….what a waste of time.

What’s usually behind shiny object syndrome is lack of focus, but often also
perfectionism. And perfectionism is also the devil behind procrastination, which shiny
object syndrome ultimately is as well. It’s a never ending cycle.

But how do you get yourself out of this spiral?

1. Catch yourself when you're getting distracted by new ideas and then remind yourself
of your WHY and your bigger goals. I know, I know, the WHY again, but it’s SO
important.

2. Promise yourself to focus on one thing at a time. When your focus is diluted you
won’t be getting anywhere. Close the extra tabs, switch off Facebook, put your
phone in the other room. That way you can’t get distracted with new ideas.

3. Bring it back to the MVP, the minimum viable product. Whenever you’re
overthinking and jumping between ideas, bring it back to the simplest thing you
could be doing right now. Often the simplest things are the best anyway.

4. Always remember, done is better than perfect. Always.

Often what’s behind of Shiny Object Syndrome is also fear of failure. That's why we’d
rather jump to a new idea, a new project, instead of finishing something. Because then
we could find out that it’ll fail. This brings us full circle to the first mindset challenge in
this workbook. They’re all connected, really.

Mantra to remember: "You can do anything but not

everything"

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Do you struggle with Shiny Object Syndrome?

What's really behind it? Is it fear of failure? Dig into this a bit and write it all down:

What is the simplest thing I could do? Write it down and eliminate everything else:

What do you get most distracted by? How can you eliminate or minimise these
distractions?

“Focus is a matter of deciding what things you’re NOT

going to do.”

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I’m sure that you’ve struggled with at least one, if not all of these mindset challenges in
the past and now on your journey to location independence too.

But the most important thing of all to remember is this:

You’re not alone.

Seriously, I would bet that 99% of all people struggle with these kind of challenges. And
the other 1% are probably lying 😉 .

Just know that this is a process, that you’ll always have some ups and downs, it’s part
of this lifestyle too. But you can totally handle it, I just know it.

If you’d like more support on your path to becoming a digital nomad, then keep your
eyes open for my brand new course for beginner Digital Nomad Girls that I’ll be
launching very soon!

And in the meantime, here are a few books I can recommend:

Playing Big by Tara Mohr

The Art of Non-Conformity by Chris Guillebeau

Rising Strong by Brene Brown

How to Fail by Elizabeth Day

Once you’ve finished the exercises, come join us in the DNG Facebook Group and let us
know what you’ve learned about yourself and which of these mindset challenges you
struggle with most!

You got this!

Jenny xx

“ I want to see what happens

if I don’t give up.”
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