How to Thrive in a new Environment or Culture

Don’t just Survive even if at first you struggled…Thrive!

When I first moved from Singapore to a new foreign land, Australia, for my studies, I had to start from zero, I have virtually no friends and close to nothing in terms of understanding the culture and how things worked. But I have had an advantage over others who were in a similar situation as me. I was given some living expenses from my parents so I didn’t need to work part time to pay for my studies and my brother who has already been there for almost two years, I have also adapted the survival skills of living in new environments from my military training.

This Lifehacking tip to adapting to a new life is simple but not easy to do.

I have personally used these methods and the result of it is winning various awards and been invited to become an University Tutor/Mentor within a year.

Adapting and Thriving in an New Environment

1. Stop complaining about what you don’t know
2. Survive and stabilize your daily routines as quickly as possible
3. Learn the way things work in the new environment and culture
4. Thrive, using your uniqueness that not only you have the knowledge of the locals but also from your homeland where you came from. The locals have one way of doing things, you have two and therefore have a higher chance of being considered more creative.

Stop Complaining about what you don’t know

In the past, it is perhaps forgivable for the man or woman with limited resources and knowledge to do and get the things he wanted to do and achieve. In the past, who can blame the men or women who could not do simple housework such as ironing, folding clothes or wiping up a nice homemade dishes. Nowadays, with the Internet readily available, when a person says that they do not know how to do simple but useful tasks which are easily learnt through videos and basic reading, he or she has no excuse, he or she is just lazy to find out.

Survive and stabilize your daily routines as quickly as possible

Few people can concentrate on larger tasks when they have to constantly worry about lodging and where their next meal would come…and if they can afford it. Find fixed lodgings which you can stay for at least a year  so you don’t have to shift houses constantly and disrupt your pace of normal life (trust me, moving saps energy and time away like few can), build up a routine for lesser tasks, like a place to shop for groceries, usual places to chill out and also find out information about where to get medical attention for emergency purposes.

Learn the way things work in the new environment and culture

Never underestimate the power of culture. If you are in Korea, facing away from an elder sitting in front of you while drinking a cup of beverages is a sign of respect, not doing so can be considered disrespectful. In Japan, people bow to greet each other. While in some countries, if you sit down with the sole of your feet facing them, it is considered very rude. Learn the dos and don’ts ASAP in an new environment or culture because soon, you might be labelled as a welcomed guest or a rude visitor.

Thrive, using your uniqueness

Consider this, an Indian selling Roti Prata (a form of Indian Pancake) can only sell each for 70 cents in their own country because everyone else is selling the same thing, but if he sells that in Australia, he could sell three pieces of it for 7 dollars. A plate of chicken rice costs about three dollars in Singapore, the same plate of chicken rice could fetch about ten dollars in Australia.

What is considered common in one place can be considered exotic in others.This is the law of supply and demand. Using the theory of food prices in different countries is just the surface of the secrets of thriving in a new environment.

This topic deserves a chapter on its own which I will further elaborate in time to come.