I was going through some old emails this morning and I stumbled across my application to Dan Andrew’s Tropical MBA Program. As I mentioned in my first entry (February 21st, 2011), Tropical MBA was the job posting that inspired me to really get the ball rolling on what I want to do with the rest of my life. Tropical MBA is an internship program set up by Dan Andrews in Southeast Asia to train interns how to become location independent entrepreneurs like Dan. After reading Dan’s story – how well he’s done for himself and how far he’s come, I decided right then and there that regardless of whether or not I got the internship with Dan, I was going to leave my job and do my own thing. And now I’m am in week 2 of my new life. For now I am supporting myself through freelance writing jobs, but I have numerous long-term thoughts and plans that are up and coming – travel blogging and charity work being my primary long-term goals (and writing countless internationally best selling books, but baby steps for now, eh?)

After rereading my responses to Dan’s questions this morning, I realised that all of the points I made in my application are still extremely important and relevant to my life. Should I ever need to be reminded of why I want to live the kind of life I’m setting out to live, I should just go back and reread my TMBA application! I’m going to set a reminder to myself to come back and reread this entry every few months to make sure I’m still on track. Thus, henceforth, my TMBA application will be my Mission Statement.

The written portion of the application was to answer 2 questions in 500 words or less. These were the questions:

1) ‘Why TMBA Semester III Could be Huge for Me’

2) ‘What I’m all About’

‘Why TMBA III Could be Huge for Me’

For me it’s not really a matter of why the TMBA could be huge for me, it’s more of a matter of how the TMBA would be huge for me. It’s not a gamble for me or a lifestyle I’m uncertain of; I know it’s the kind of life I want. Since I moved to England from the US at the age of six and realised how big and amazing this world is, I have literally considered every possible career and field of study that would enable me to be able to pair work with travel – from photojournalism, to travel writing, to teaching English in Asia. Yet I fear that each of these respective career choices could ultimately only last for a few years, and I’m not yearning for just for a few fun years abroad – this is a life choice. I want to have a career that I know I’ll be satisfied with for the rest of my life, one that is constantly growing and moving onwards and upwards with endless possibilities. Thus, I have wanted to learn the skills necessary to start my own, or to join, a location independent business for as long as I can remember. If I can find a way to use the skills I’ve already picked up along the way, then even better!

To work for a business, or to have my own business, which enables me to travel the world and make money doing it, has been my life’s ambition. Unfortunately though, I did not study business in university, and when I graduated from UCLA with a degree in English Literature, I needed to get a job immediately. So I have spent the last two years working in different marketing roles for large companies. Although I really enjoy marketing, in the last two years I have not learned nearly as much as I would have liked to learn. I have felt constantly dissatisfied and frustrated by my jobs and their prospects. I want more business exposure, I want to learn more, and I want more independence in my job. I want my career to move faster! I know that whatever large corporation or business I choose to work for, it will take me many, many years to rise to a respectable level, and even longer to be able to take the kind of time off I want to be able to travel around the world. I want, or rather, I need, to be able to work from anywhere in the world. Going to the same office, day in and day out, and having limited holiday time is not a life for me and I refuse to accept that that is my only option! I am so grateful that we live in a world with the internet, and I know that, if taught the necessary skills, I could work from anywhere on my laptop. I genuinely thirst to learn the skills that will enable me to live the lifestyle I have always wanted.

“What I’m all About”

People always tell me after they get to know me that I’m not at all what they expected when they first met me. I find this both amusing and entertaining, especially when people tell me what they initially thought of me. I’ve had a broad range of answers here – but to sum them all up – I think it’s safe to say that with me, what you see is definitely not what you get! People are usually quite surprised to learn that I’m not a girly girl (at all!!), I’m ferociously independent, organized, meticulous, a perfectionist, and a complete book worm (my Kindle never leaves my side). I also love to write; blogs, essays, short stories, press releases, copy, whatever, I love it. I’m not a big fan of TV (particularly despising ‘reality’ TV like Keeping up with the Kardashians – ugh, cringe). Pass me the remote and you’ll probably end up watching a documentary, a movie (I love movies), or BBC World News. I also love to party – there’s no getting around that and absolutely no point in leaving that detail out. I love going out, being social, meeting new people, dancing, good conversation, great food, great wine and great company in general. I’ll gladly stay up and watch the sunrise if the night was worth it ( provided I have plenty of time to sleep the next day)! I’m not someone who can pull an all-nighter and be fine after. Sleep is as important to me as food. My attitude toward life is very much a work hard play hard attitude – and I feel that both must be done to a degree of excellence. My passion for life is nothing short of intense. I’m equally intense about getting eight hours of sleep every night, eating right and healthy living in general. Keeping fit is very important to me and I absolutely love running and yoga. I’m also a big fan of hiking, swimming and tennis, and I’ve recently developed a desire to try rock climbing…

On an emotional level I’m extremely compassionate and sensitive. If I care about you and you are in pain, then I am probably in pain too. It sounds like a good quality, but it can be a difficult one sometimes as I care about a lot of people! (It’s funny writing this and trying not to sound like I’m writing a description of myself for a dating website!) I think I’m a really down to earth person and I’m extremely non-judgmental…and I’m passionate about everything I do.

To sum me up, I’d say I’m all about greatness – from the quality of people I choose to surround myself with, the standards I hold for myself, and the life I choose to live. I can’t (and won’t) do mundane, boring or just normal. Someone recently told me that the kind of life I want is impossible and that if want to travel around the world forever I’ll only end up lonely and alone. But for me, no existence could possibly be more lonely and depressing than one where I stay in the same place forever.