On this episode of Financially Naked: Stories from The Financial Gym, our host is Genar Mendez, a Certified Level 2 Financial Trainer, and he is joined by Gym client Christian Prince. Christian is a digital nomad, who has worked in tech recruitment for over seven years. In 2021, he decided to pursue his dreams of playing professional basketball and living overseas. He just finished playing his first season in Spain with a team in Valencia. Today, Genar interviews Christian about his journey from deciding to become a digital nomad, the lessons learned along the way, to what’s next on the horizon.
Genar opens by asking Christian to share what started his journey of becoming a digital nomad.
In 2020, Christian felt like he was up against a wall emotionally, spiritually, and physically. He knew he needed to make a change, but didn’t know what was next. He took a leap of faith, quit his job, and stepped into the unknown. In the back of his mind, he dreamed of living abroad, and didn’t know it at the time, but was planting the seeds to make it happen.
Many people can relate to Christian’s story about feeling stuck. It takes enormous courage and faith to leap into the unknown. Genar asks Christian what advice he’d give someone who might be feeling stuck but afraid to take that leap.
Christian could feel physically in his body that a change needed to happen. The feeling was there, building and building. Your body and mind will tell you or you may feel trapped in a negative space.
It’s important to have a plan in place. Quitting a job might not be a realistic option for some people. Christian talks about what the steps looked like for him.
In 2020, he realized he wasn’t pursuing his dreams, he asked himself if he’d rather go for it all and fail or be the person who followed someone else’s path. He made the decision to pursue something he wanted.
Around that time, he heard about a basketball summer league in Spain. He got tunnel vision on this goal and started working hard to get to this camp. He wanted to be in that environment and started taking on extra side jobs and saving as much as he could.
In May of 2021 he was able to compete in the summer league. He was playing basketball twice a day. There were games, practices, and weight training. Going through this process finally felt like he was pursuing his dreams. He felt like things were going in the right direction and was exposed to a remote work opportunity.
He started writing and sharing on Medium, which was a great platform for blogging and sharing his story. In January, he started a remote position as a recruiter. This job allows him to work from anywhere and continue to pursue his basketball and his writing. All of his dreams and passions came together in a unique way.
Once the big picture came into focus, he was able to get clear on what he wanted and put in the work. Everything started falling into place. When we let go of what isn’t serving us anymore, we get more clear about what we want.
Now Christian gets to live out his dreams working in the recruiter position and traveling as a digital nomad.
Christian would have been more open with his friends and family and used his voice to be more transparent throughout the process.
Christian shares about culture shocks he experienced:
Living and being a resident in Spain was very different from his time studying abroad.
Their pace and way of life are very different from America. It’s much slower and work isn’t the central focus of everyone’s lives. It seems like in America, we live to work, and over there, people work to live.
He took some Spanish classes and really immersed himself in the language. He loved how people really bring you in and make you feel like part of the family.
Christian talks through what this all looked like financially:
He shouts out Gina, and says without her and Financial Gym, none of this would be possible for him.
What helped Christian develop a budget and stick to it was getting very clear about what the goal was. He was connected to the dream of living in Spain.
It’s about not being impulsive and making sacrifices in the short term to accomplish those big goals.
Christian talks about how he takes everything one day, week, and month at a time. He met with Gina before Spain and planned the next few months. Being able to execute the plan made him feel like a financially responsible adult.
Christian shares the greatest lesson he’s learned being a digital nomad and living abroad:
Have faith in being rooted in your purpose. There are things that may not go as planned, mistakes, and failures, but they are helping you build resilience to take the bigger leaps in life. He has been able to let go of the fear and anxiety, and see life more clearly. He feels like he’s on the right path and continues to learn every day.
Christian is a multidisciplinary creative, as a freelance writer and a DJ. An avid world traveler, he has been to 13 countries and counting. He looks forward to playing basketball in the UK this upcoming season while continuing to work as a digital nomad and creative.
Medium: Medium.com/@cprincejr
Instagram: @christianprinc3
