I think it’s time to synonymize the words, digital nomad and entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs have a product, and they market and distribute it. A digital nomad’s product is their skill, and it’s our job to market and distribute ourselves to get customers, aka paying clients.

Recently, there has been a massive shift in the reality of life as an entrepreneur. People tend to glamorize the end success and forget about the five years of hard work that came before it. Entrepreneurs are stepping out and telling their stories, reminding others that the road to success comes at a price.

The same happens with the digital nomad lifestyle.

Working from the beach and living in paradise sounds excellent, but this is the end of success.

First, you must pack everything you own and move to a foreign country. For some of us, we do this alone. The first time you do this, I promise, you will be on the edge of your seat, wondering why you are on this plane in the first place.

Second, you need to figure out how to create an efficient schedule to succeed as a digital nomad. Making a successful schedule out of thin air is not easy. Determining what works best for you and your clients takes trial and error. It took me four months to figure out how to work and travel.

Third, you want to be good at what you do. This means you are current on what is trending in your industry. As a content writer, this translates to me reading articles from top dogs in my writing niche to see how they make their articles stand out. You’re also pushing out an endless stream of content (or work) and simultaneously managing:

consistently moving from one new apartment to another

plane tickets

Visas

co-working spaces

currency exchange rates

your safety

meeting new people

exploring new cities

attempting to find time to relax

Fourth, you have to be okay with sacrifice. Sacrifice in the form of missing holidays, not going on that trip with all your friends and being out of the loop for months at a time. Especially while living in another time zone, it can be hard to keep in contact with people back home.

This is a lot. When I first dove into the digital nomad lifestyle, I failed miserably. My failure came directly from focusing so hard on the end success that I forgot I had to put in work to get there. Every cell in my body questioned why I had taken this jump when it hadn’t paid off.

As I’ve learned how to create an efficient schedule and successfully grown my clientele, I can say that I understand why people leap.

Standing on the other side, I understand what it means to live the entrepreneurial dream.

Without question, I am just beginning my journey, and I am addicted.

Working a nine-to-five in an office is officially out of the question. My life is becoming the dream that I have always hoped for, and it has all come from living life as a digital nomad.