BEING SUCCESSFUL AT HOME MAY NOT GUARANTEE SUCCESS ABROAD
Posted on October 16, 2014 by Kornelia Werner Yellon, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.
Culture shock is a term used to describe pronounced reactions to the psychological disorientation most people experience when moving into another cult
BEING SUCCESSFUL AT HOME MAY NOT GUARANTEE SUCCESS ABROAD
Does this describe you?
Well educated
Self-sufficient and resourceful
Open to opportunities and new ideas in life
Willing to work hard and to take risks to reach your goals
And with that, you have been quite successful in your career
All these wonderful skills brought you to another country,
To further your career/education or for adventure and personal growth.
But to your bad surprise, you’ll find yourself struggling,
to truly make this place your new home. Every day, you are desperately trying to figure out how the heck things work. And how you can get back on speed and bounce back to your usual successful self. There are days when you feel frustrated, overwhelmed and ask yourself, ‘What’s wrong with this place or myself?’, and ‘How on earth could this be happening to me?’
So what is going on?
If you are experiencing any number of the following symptoms for a prolonged period of time such as:
Confusion/helplessness
Inadequacy/self-doubt
Anxiety
Depression
Homesickness
Fatigue
You might be experiencing culture shock.
What is Culture Shock?
Culture shock is a term used to describe pronounced reactions to the psychological disorientation most people experience when moving into another culture.
Why do we experience it?
As distressing and challenging as culture shock is; it is a relatively new phenomenon. Back when the people lived securely separated from others in their ‘own’ territory, they only had to relate to people who were very much like themselves.
Nowadays, advances in transportation and communication have made the world much smaller. This has produced a complexity in our lives that old habits, developed over centuries when major contact with other cultures came through trade and warfare, haven’t prepared us for. In the past, it was only to develop a preference for similarity. This important mechanism helped link us to the group, and through that, assured the groups continuance. But the same mechanism also became the source of prejudice, oppression and war.
In our complex, fast changing world these old habits have become dysfunctional
We are now supposed to know how to live in harmony with each other and how to quickly adapt to different cultures when living and working abroad. Yet, old habits are hard to shake and when thrown into another culture without targeted preparation we lack the conceptual and psychological tools to effectively adapt.
So, then what should I do?
While your preference for variety and a large range of choices in your life certainly is a huge advantage for challenges of adapting to a constantly changing world, you need to develop new skills for a successful experience abroad.
Actually, what people need most when they go overseas is to understand themselves better! It is crucial for us to become aware of our cultural baggage and to find ways in which to avoid tripping over it too often.
Learn more about ‘Survival Skills for Abroad’ in my next article.
