Why Moving Away From Your Hometown Is The Best Decision You’ll Ever Make

More recently, when I talk to my friends from back home, the conversation tends to go the same way. They’re tired of the way their life is going, tired of seeing the same people, tired of working the same job, want a change, etc. My solution to most of these problems is to put your neck out there and relocate to a new city. For some reason, that solution is usually followed up with a lot of resistance!

Moving to a different city, especially if you’ve lived in the same area your entire life or all of your friends and family live in the area can definitely be a scary thing to consider! You’ve established your life here, everyone you know that’s important to you is here, everything you know is right there in your hometown. You’re comfortable. Stepping outside of your comfort zone permanently (or even semi-permanently) can seem impossible to some and unrealistic to others. But let me expand your mind a bit and push you in the direction of a greater, fulfilling life!

Whether it’s going to a college out of state, starting your career in a new city, or just starting over with your life with new people and new surroundings, here are the reasons moving out of your hometown will be the best decision you ever make!

1. The world is too big to stay in one place forever. Especially if you live in a small town. And yes, that’s great that you take your annual vacation to Miami, Vegas, DC, or NY, but there are so many other places to experience! Just because you’re relocating, doesn’t mean you have to go to one to one of the big and popular cities either.
2. Strengthen your resilience. Moving away from home and stepping outside of your comfort zone will force you to realize and build your strengths. Strengths you may have never known you’ve had before. Always being able to see family and friends, knowing everyone and everything in the area, you’ll always have a crutch, something to fall back on. When you move to a new city, you may not always have that. You’re forced to be resourceful, figure things out on your own, become independent. Although that may seem scary, it’s actually a great feeling in the end to know that you made a way to make sure the rent got paid and needs were fulfilled. You begin to trust yourself to make important decisions and rely on yourself to make things happen. It forces you to grow up!
3. Expands your mind. When exposed to different cultures, cuisines, people, and just an altogether different way of life, you’ll be amazed at how your brain starts to shift. Things you’ve never fathomed doing before, now become your regular activities. The food you thought sounded so disgusting is now your go-to comfort food. Just when you started losing hope in mankind, you meet a dope group of people that have similar (or different) interests as you that fulfill a different social need that maybe your hometown friends couldn’t do before.
4. Grow in your career. It goes without saying that some cities job markets are booming more than others. Maybe you’re struggling to find a job worthwhile in your hometown and have had to settle for what you could get. Maybe you and everyone you know work at Amazon, or Perdue, or any other factory because that’s what’s booming in your area, but you desire to work in corporate America. Move to a city that will give you what you want in a career! You spend about 2000 hours of your year at work, why not make the choice to use those hours doing something you actually like? Especially if they pay more! I truly believe that finding a job you enjoy gives you overall life satisfaction. If that means you have to move a few hours away, why not do it?
5. Don’t let fear ruin your life. Every time I hear someone say ‘I think I want to move’, it’s usually followed up by a list of fears and worries about why they shouldn’t. Don’t let fear scare you into being stagnant. There are probably lots of things you were scared to do, and once you did them you realized, ‘wow, this wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be at all!’. If you put your mind to it you can do it! Make a plan, and let nothing stop you from completing the plan! Create a timeline of the things you’ll need to do before you leave. Example – Figure out where you want to go, give yourself six months to prepare. During those six months, save money, search for jobs, figure out where you’d live, etc. Tell yourself and believe that by X date, you’ll be living there! And allow the plan to motivate you to do what you need to do.
   

   “Living with fear stops us and if you don’t go out on the branch, you’re never going to get the best fruit.”

6. You learn to appreciate the things back home. Initially, of course, you’ll miss everything and everyone back home. But, you’ll also grow a strong appreciation for the people and things back home that you may have been taking granted. Always fighting with your parents or siblings, friends constantly doing things that get on your nerves, the Chinese spot on the corner always taking way too long to make your food – all these things will become things you love or miss most about being home! When you go home, you’ll cherish how good the Chinese food is there. Maybe you’ll argue less with family and friends, and every little thing they do won’t bother you like it used to. ‘Absence makes the heart grow fonder’. Being away from these things puts focus on the things you love most about them and will allow you to cherish them a lot more.

Remember, just because you move away doesn’t mean you’ll never see family and friends ever again. While sure, you may have to miss out on a few birthday parties or baby showers, it doesn’t mean that you will miss out on your loved one’s lives completely. It also doesn’t mean you’ll be shunned from your hometown and not allowed back. Whether you move away for school, for a new career opportunity, or just an overall new life – you’re still only a phone call or FaceTime call away from your loved ones while still being able enjoy your life differently and abundantly!

Have you moved away from home? What’s the biggest reward of moving away for you? Let me know in the comments!