Not al l jobs require travel!
Luckily for me, a big part of my job whether as an entrepreneur or a digital ROI strategist or a speaker or a visiting faculty or a corporate trainer or a consultant or an executive coach or a brand influencer (I was just looking for excuses to start this post by listing my core skills, mea culpa!), requires me to travel. And yes, it helps that I do enjoy travelling (but only when I am sure it will really be worth my time)
If you are someone whose role requires you to travel frequently, here are four things to keep in mind:
1) Discipline: Any skill without a discipline has its limitations and or impediments. Early to bed & early to rise are always a great place or a habit to ingrain. I usually start my day at 4am and am off to bed by 9pm (there are of course exceptions to this habit depending on family and work demands). Even if you do not want to start your day this early, at least ensuring starting your day around 5am or so can give you a massive head start to your routine (these are just my views), be it household related tasks or career related. Obviously this does not apply if you are working night shifts (been there, done that) Also, it’s not just about starting your day early. What you do in the first two hours of that will define most part of your daily pattern. So irrespective of how well you know the place or the people you are working for, your singular focus should be to deliver as much value as you can, every single time with utmost discipline. Punctuality is core. Without punctuality & discipline, as a professional, your entire skill set can become a mere nebulous concept for your end customer. Every single time a client has given me a reminder call or a message about the timing of the event, my response has been, “I am already at the event site, waiting for you to come”. If you are there before the host is, they know you really mean business and that they did the right thing by hiring you for the said role to begin with. It shows you respect them, their brand and really value the contributions you are about to make.
2) Culture: If your work demands you to travel, try to explore the place. Be it a new country or a city. Learn about the people, culture, food & try to get a grasp of their routine. It not only helps you to acculturate to the people better (at the end of the day, these people & places are your end customers, one way or another), it also makes you comfortable in their space. In other words, helps you adjust, adapt quicker and deliver utmost value while respecting their boundaries. This is very important if you are catering to a global audience
3) Read, unlearn & learn: Most of the places (hotels or community spaces) today have libraries or books related to the place, people & culture you are going to be a part of. If not, then there are innumerable sites online that help you to know the places, slangs, language, rules, do’s and don’t, topics that can & or cannot be discussed, etc. I always look for libraries at the hotels I stay at or museums nearby (that give you a much better sense of their culture), since these are curated books / history lessons / local newspapers etc based on community preferred or cherished topics of discussions etc and make it easier to have small talks too (very helpful if you are an introvert like me)
4) Saying No: More often than not, we are all burdened with our routine responsibilities (household work that has been long pending, attention to your family, office work that cannot be delayed further etc), so travel can sometimes make it a daunting task to give that amount of your time or life to your work. Sacrifices should inherently have valuable outcomes to ensure they contribute well to the overall quality of your life. So make it a habit to say NO to people or programs or events that you honestly know are not really worth your time & efforts based on what really is a priority. Remember, a big part of success, is your ability to control your routine or narrative on what really matters for you in the long run. In other words, it is about having the ability to say NO to things, tasks, clients, family or friends who clearly aren’t going to value your time in comparison to the sacrifices you will be making by accepting their request to “be there for them”. At times, saying yes to what might look like a lucrative business opportunity or an important social gathering or a networking event might be more damaging to your routine, mental health or even your career than you can imagine. Give time to people & clients who reciprocate it themselves too. This is especially true when it comes to travel. You might be ready to the go the extra mile (pun intended), but the question is, will the person you are doing it for do the same for you? Give your time to family, friends and clients who respect and reciprocate it. Remember, the person who is the least happy in life is the person who is trying to make everyone around them happy all the time!
In addition to expanding your intellectual senses, travel also adds tremendous know-how and ensures you truly are aware of the world around you.
Travel with the right group of people for the right reasons can energise your life in ways you can’t even imagine.
So tell me, where and with whom are you heading off to this month?
Regards,
Ananth V
Let’s connect on: Social Media Book– Corporate Training Digital Marketing Social media ROI strategy – Website
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