3 Lessons Learned In Africa

Traveling in Africa was a life changing experience. Naturally, there were some great lessons that can be applied to money and life and I want to share them with you. 

LET GO

I know, I talk about this a lot when it comes to money but this was LOUD AND CLEAR on this trip to Africa. And as my coach always tells me: repetition is the mother of all teachers. When I arrived at the airport in Denver, my boarding passes wouldn’t print. This led me to stand in line for an hour to get to an agent to be told that something was wrong on the travel agency side and that I’d have to call them. 

This is usually where the panic would set in. I got to the airport super early, but at this point, I was down to 1.5 hours before my flight took off. My brain immediately started to go to the worst case scenarios, You know the drill. This particular scenario had me missing the trip to Tanzania in its entirety. In short - dramatic. Haha.  

So, I had to have a moment of just telling myself to LET IT GO and asking myself: what do you actually have control over Bri? Instead of letting my brain take me on a fantastical freak out ride, I needed to give it some focus.  I would call the travel agent and do what I could do, be persistent, all the things. And then, I’d just have to not worry about it. And that’s what I did. 

Yes, we finally got it figured out...1.5 hours later and I had to do the Home Alone run to my gate, but it all worked out. 

LET GO of the things you can’t control and the worry associated with them. It’s not gonna help. Do what you can do when it comes to your money. Lean in and be diligent in building your relationship with it and then let it go. 

TRUST

I cannot express to you how often I said this to myself on this trip. Like with any trip where you are traveling to a different country and culture, things are different. And when things are different, it can feel scary and unsettling. We can no longer operate on autopilot, we have to actually be present. That’s the way it works. 

Where I really had to double down on trust, was riding in an open air jeep and rolling up 5 feet from wild animals. It was bananas. Yeah...we’re not in Kansas...at a zoo anymore friend. My roommate and I were nervous, but I kept reminding myself; TRUST. The guides and trackers know what they are doing and they won’t put us in danger. If they say the lion is cool...then I’m going to trust that. I’m not gonna lie, I had to fight off visions of Siegfried & Roy, but still kept going back to: trust this person that lives here that does this every.single.day. 

TRUST can be tricky. We often think of it as trusting others like I did in Africa. But part of that trust is also trusting in yourself. Trusting that I would be able to take care of myself if I needed to. That I would be able to figure it out and remind myself, that for 41 years I have figured it out and that has required some level of trust in myself.  Sweet Soul, you can trust yourself. You will always figure it out. Yes, you might yolo every once in a while with your money, but trust that you CAN change your habits and your relationship with your money. 

MINDSET IS GOLD

I woke up on the final day really sick. I had about 30 hours of travel ahead of me that started with a 6 hour van ride through Tanzania to get to the airport. Being sick and needing a bathroom...not ideal friends. Not ideal. Luckily I had emergency antibiotics and some other things, but my mindset came in clutch. Sitting in that van through all the bumps and gurgles, I simply said to myself: You’re okay. You’re okay. You’re okay. 

Our mind has the power to take us from zero to 60 in HOT MINUTE. And it has the power to actually change how your body feels. I was not under the impression that I could stop the diarrhea with my mind (maybe someone can do that), but I did believe that I could keep my self as calm as possible on a very long ride.

MINDSET will get you through a lot. Whatever it is in life, remember this. Your mindset can and will play a big role whether you want it to or not. Think about how you want to feel when it comes to your money. YES, we have to take action. YES, there will be moments when this will not be easy and you might be in survival mode (real life friends), but try. The more you practice your mindset in life, the easier it gets.