NuNomad Blog

by Richard and Carmen

For many, the answer might be “Who cares? I’m living the life of Riley!” Good point. But the fact of the matter is that if you’re not doing good work you will most likely lose your client base or business, thus seriously jeopardizing your ability to traipse the world without frying your nest egg.  Plus, doing our best is often preferred over doing just enough—that is, when we’re really given the opportunity to do so. This claim is supported by business guru, Daniel Pink, author of The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us.

What Motivates Us?

Pink touts that intrinsic motivators are clearly the primary root to high performance—that it’s not just the money. Very true. Some of the most sought after companies to work for, such as Ben & Jerry’s, Patagonia, NetApp, Google, reward their employees with a more comfortable working environment, quality health and/or child care services, along with more time for creativity, rather than bloated paychecks. And isn’t that on par with what we nomads have opted for? Trading in predictable paychecks and automated ways of living for the ability to be the best we can be (personally, creatively, even professionally?)

So, what’s an intrinsic motivator?  As wikipedia desribes it:

“Intrinsic motivation comes from rewards inherent to a task or activity itself…”

Interestingly it goes on to describe educational research that has shown that students are more motivated when they:

attribute their educational results to internal factors that they can control (e.g. the amount of effort they put in),

believe they can be effective agents in reaching desired goals (i.e. the results are not determined by luck),

are interested in mastering a topic, rather than just rote-learning to achieve good grades.

Notice how these three characteristics point back to the student being in control of the process.  The student feels their achievement is a direct result of their own efforts.  Now, ask yourself how often you were able to feel this when working for someone else?

In the traditional workplace,  having the unbridled opportunity to do our best often times does not happen. Too many supervisors, confining job parameters and short-sighted performance targets often hold a person’s potential back. It is not the financial rewards, modern working environment or fancy equipment that makes us more clever, intuitive or creative. In fact, it is often those externally imposed structures that can keep us from accessing our intrinsic motivators.

Being the Master of your Destiny

If you have achieved a nomadic existence then you know what it is to rely on yourself and at times only yourself.  You have experienced the intrinsic rewards of making your way through the world by the seat of your own pants.  If you haven’t become nomadic yet, but you’re reading this blog, then most likely you are a person who understands the sense of accomplishment that can be experienced in an independent lifestyle and yearns to have more of it.

Being an independent worker or entrepreneur you are also perfectly poised to reap the rewards of intrinsic motivation from your own work.  What can you do to increase these rewards?  Here’s a list:

1) Ask yourself – of all the tasks you do to complete your work, which ones excite you the most? Why did you choose this work in the first place?  Get back to your original passion about your career or business.  Now – maximize the time you spend in those activities that bring out your passion.

2) Ask yourself – of all the tasks your do to complete your work, which ones do you dread? Likely, those are the tasks that do not use your inner strengths.  Make a list of these.  If possible, erase them from your scenario all together or delegate them to others (virtual assistants for instance) who might do them more efficiently and get them off your plate so you can be freed to do what you love.

3) Look at the tasks you love.  Which of those tasks gets the most return for the effort you put in? Do more of those tasks that really pay off.  Move others down the priority list.  There is no better way to feel in control of your outcome than by maximizing those activities that bring the biggest pay off.

4) Get to the next level. If you are supporting yourself by your skill, you are probably pretty good at what you do.  But what if you could be excellent?  What would it take to achieve a new level of excellence in your work?  Think about what skills, talents, etc. you might like to improve so that you could be one of the best in your field?  Remember, the students who mastered a topic for love of the topic felt more reward than those who just learned in order to make grades.

Nomad Your Way to New Levels of Motivation

As a nomad you will not only have greater control over how you work but you will also control when and where you work.  Use your freedom to send your motivation through the roof!  Here are some tips:

1. Self-discipline and strong work ethic. With freedom comes responsibility.  Yes, you could take off several days to climb that nearby mountain, and perhaps you will, but remember to keep in mind that the reason you can do so is because you take good care of your income source.  Use self discipline to make choices about your time.

2. Make the most of where you are to energize your creativity and motivation. Being in professions that require a lot of creativity, we find that inspiration is often born from down-time. (Say, cycling a mountain trail or sipping tea at an old world café.)  Choose places to nomad that are going to inspire you. If you like the outdoors, find natural beauty and visit it often.  Like the arts?  Nomad to a culturally rich area and be sure to see its offerings regularly.  These activities will feed your soul and allow you to pour your new abundance into your work as well.

3. Maximize nomad-friendly tools that are easy to travel with and get the job done. Leave the fax machine at home. Fed-Ex can track you down in some of the most remote places. Reference materials are most likely available in digital format and the shiny, modern, office interior can be replaced frequently with that of the environment you’ve recently chosen.  In other words, don’t burden yourself by trying to bring along the kitchen sink to your new hut.  Traveling light will make your nomading experience more joyful both physically and mentally.

When you’re doing your best work, people will naturally be drawn to you.  The results?

• You’ll love your life
• Your business will thrive
• Your nomadic lifestyle will be sustainable for as long as you choose

Photo by Personeelsnet