This post helps you identify the limiting beliefs you have when it comes to where you live and teaches you how to overcome them.

Feeling stuck in your current location? Find yourself daydreaming about living anywhere else? Perhaps, you’re ready to move to a different city and trying to decide where to live. Or, maybe you’ve just moved to a new town and are eager to establish yourself there. 

If any of these sound like you, then you’re in the right place!  

At Choose Where to Live™, our goal is to help you ESTABLISH YOURSELF in a location that truly aligns with your individual preferences and current life stage. Whether you’re an executive, a fresh graduate, retired, or embarking on a new chapter in life, we’re here to empower you to design a life you love, in a place you belong– be it in an entirely new city or right where you currently are.

Where You Live Matters

From a very young age, I knew location, the physical place I called home was very important. You see, I grew up in government housing in a small town in Alabama where my family’s low income limited our options. The small-town life never resonated with me; I was surrounded by people who felt stuck, like they had no choice but to stay put.

Up until a few years ago, I identified with the notion that I had no choice in the matter. The places I lived seemed to be dictated by circumstances rather than my own choices. I stayed in my hometown because I felt guilty for leaving my struggling family.

College took me to Kentucky, and then jobs led me to Atlanta and Portland. I had never deliberately chosen a place to live simply because I wanted to be there.

Tired of feeling helpless, I decided to take charge. I took a step back and figured out what was missing in all my past cities and what I needed to truly thrive. 

Then I spent a year exploring different places across the US, determined to find one I genuinely wanted to live in. And shockingly, it worked! I established myself in a place that makes me feel fulfilled and I want to establish yourself too! 

Don’t “Settle Down”

Oftentimes, the concept of “settling down” brings about a sense of finality and stagnation, making us reluctant to commit to a certain place.

But, let’s reframe this notion.

What if we consider picking a place to live or choosing to love where we currently live as not an end state, but a dynamic process? It’s about creating a life conducive to your current needs and aspirations. It’s about establishing yourself. 

Establishing yourself doesn’t mean that you stop growing, exploring or changing; in fact, it means the opposite. When you choose to establish yourself, you’re actively making a choice that supports your current lifestyle, ambitions, and personal growth. 

However, we live in a world that keeps us from truly establishing ourselves where we live. We’re told that we need to settle down. We need to get over the fact that we don’t like where we live.

The “just deal with it” mentality.

There are so many limiting beliefs that keep you from truly establishing yourself in a place that inspires you.

Limiting Belief #1: Where you live isn’t a choice. 

The incredible thing about our modern era is that we actually do have a say. More people than ever before have the freedom and financial means to choose where they want to live. This means we have an amazing opportunity to discover the place that is closely aligned with who we are.

You might feel like where you live is dictated by circumstances – a job offer, family considerations, or financial constraints. It’s easy to fall into these thoughts. But remember, even within constraints, we still have choices.

How can we choose to love the places we live? 

Instead of focusing on the problem, start with empathy. What do you want. What are your favorite parts about where you live now? What parts of your life would you most like to change? 

By pondering these questions, you start to sketch out a blueprint for what you want your town to be. This is the beginning of making the CHOICE of where to live, rather than letting the choice make you. 

Limiting Belief #2: Where you live doesn’t matter. 

This belief, my friends, couldn’t be farther from the truth. The environment in which we live significantly influences our lifestyle, our mental and physical health, our career opportunities, and even our social relationships.

Not to mention things like climate and access to nature, our ability to earn and community culture. It’s critical to understand how aspects of a location can either enhance or detract from your quality of life. 

Don’t believe me? Check out my Location Evaluation to better understand how your current geographical environment affects you! 

Limiting Belief #3: You need to find the perfect place to live.   

The idea of a “perfect” place to live can create an enormous amount of pressure and can, ironically, stop us from finding a place where we can truly thrive. The truth is, there is no ‘perfect’ place to live. There are pros and cons to every location, and different things will suit us at different times in our lives. 

The goal shouldn’t be to find the ‘perfect’ place. Instead, it should be to find a location that supports your current needs and goals. Remember, finding your ‘right’ place is a journey, not a destination and it’s entirely possible to make where you live now or the city you just moved to the right place for you! 

But, if you’re ready to move, we can help with that too! 

Limiting Belief #4: Place is no longer relevant in today’s economy. 

We seem to be bombarded with this idea that place no longer matters in our hyper-connected world. I mean you can work just as well from a ski resort in the Colorado or a farmhouse in the Turkish countryside as you can from a high-rise office in San Francisco, as long as there’s Wi-Fi and a phone signal.  But when you really think about it, this concept isn’t new at all. 

First, trains changed how we move stuff around, then phones made us feel close even when we’re far away. Cars hit the scene, then planes, and finally, the internet —basically, the ultimate product of our globalized world- changed our lives forever. Each of these inventions made us believe we could escape the limits of location. 

But here’s the deal: where you live does matter, maybe now more than ever before. 

Today’s crucial economic factors like talent, innovation, and creativity aren’t spread out evenly around the world. They gather in specific places. Dr. Richard Florida calls this the “clustering force.” Because of this clustering force, cities and regions have become the powerhouses of economic growth. That’s why they keep growing. 

Did you know that more than half of the world’s population lives in cities now? And in the US, a whopping 90 percent of economic output comes from metropolitan regions. So, the idea that location doesn’t matter anymore? It’s just not true. 

Place is still a big deal, shaping opportunities and driving progress in ways you might not always realize.

Limiting Belief #5: Changing where you live is too overwhelming  

Look, it is not lost on me that there could be a million reasons as to why you are here.

Perhaps you’re feeling stuck in your current location, or you’re wrestling with the daunting prospect of moving away.

Maybe you’re yearning for a fresh start after a significant life event like divorce, or you’re ready to plunge into an exciting career journey in a new city.

Maybe retirement has you scanning the horizon for the ideal place to retire, or you’re just in need of a lifestyle shake-up.

Regardless, your journey to establishing yourself begins with questions not answers. In my program, we will start with understanding what YOU want and then going from there.

Changing your living environment is not overwhelming when you have a proven process to help you along the journey. 

Establishing yourself is all about reframing the conventional notions about where you live and finding a process that works for you.

So what’s keeping you from moving to the place of your dreams or figuring out a way to more fully establish yourself in the place you currently live?