Featured Lifestyle Designer: Reto Stuber
Goodbye Switzerland, USA is calling me! Why I left Switzerland and crossed the ocean to start a new life in New York
When I finally realized that passion is the most important thing in life, I began to act. Like my great-grandfather, I left my Swiss home, boarded a ship and arrived at the port of New York in April 2009 with two bags and a dream in my head.
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925), the youngest major presidential candidate in US history and Secretary of State, said: “Fate is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it’s not something to wait for, it’s something to achieve.” He is right and I am happy that I left my comfort zone and moved from Switzerland to the USA to work towards my destiny. I strongly believe that everyone should follow their passion.
My goal is to do whatever I like and make money from it – preferably via the Internet. I’m not talking about multi-level marketing or get-rich-quick schemes. No, I love to write and position myself as a correspondent for German speaking companies in the US. I conduct interviews and write articles for them, and companies can call me their outpost in the US. My passion has always been to read, research, write and communicate what I have learned. This goes back to my childhood.
So a couple of months ago I started my new business as a writer in the US. A group of people liked my idea and started calling me their US correspondent. I was very lucky to start my new business during the recession. Of course, I have many different areas of expertise, but I decided to target a niche with little competition.
After a couple of weeks, I decided to outsource some repetitive tasks to people in Germany and Asia. Although I’m not the type to work 4 hours a week… I love what I do and I work hard to keep my writing business sustainable. The idea that I don’t have to do everything myself is in my head, so I try to optimize processes and outsource them to other people. This is not always easy, it takes time to brief and you have to delegate authority to someone else.
I worked hard on my career in Switzerland. So why did I leave? I have always wanted to live in a foreign country, but I thought that the situation of my Swiss life would not allow me to do so. I told myself that it was my destiny to stay there and work on my career – otherwise I would have had the opportunity, right?
Then it hit me like lightning: I KNEW it was now or never the time to move to the states and drop everything! Suddenly it became crystal clear to me, and there was no other way out. I knew that the consequences would be severe not only for me. But the time had come to leave my life and safety in Switzerland behind, and now I was ready to trade that in for a new experience. After returning home, I told my family, friends and colleagues that I needed to leave. At first, everyone was surprised and shocked, but they accepted my decision and supported my move to the USA.
I know that I have everything I need to create the life of my dreams. You have learned a little about me. And although my story sounds smooth, there were moments of struggle and questions, and they still arise. But it’s up to us to decide how to deal with it.
Here’s what I’ve found out so far:
- Take action! If you know that something is wrong in your life, then it is your responsibility to take action and change it! No one else will rise for you. And it’s okay to make changes.
- There is no easy way! Face it: You’ll have to work hard to live the life of your dreams, so you’d better start now and develop a healthy work ethic. Make sure tension and relaxation are in balance.
- Focus! New opportunities and ideas come up every day, but to be successful, you must focus your energy and passion and get things done.
- Assign goals. Be specific and write them down, then work, work, work to achieve them. You need passion, your resources, skills and a dream to succeed! No more no less.
- Live now! Yesterday is long gone, tomorrow will come soon enough. Of course you have to plan, but only to revise the plan and adapt to what life has to offer you.
- Postpone satisfaction. Sometimes you have to wait until you reap what you see. Be patient and give the world time to repay you in kind.
- Don’t do everything yourself. Find people to support you, talk to experts, and outsource some of your responsibilities to someone else.
- Be good! Make someone else’s life better and yours will be better
Reto Stuber is a young entrepreneur from New York. You can find more information about it at http://www.retotuber.comor Twitter.
