The "Surprising Secret to Nomad Success" Edition

30-Second Skill: What's the Polite Thing to Do With My Hands While Eating With a Client (Or, Like, David Beckham...? Hypothetically, Of Course.)

Hands are weird at the table. (Just kidding, they're always weird: have you ever done a photoshoot and tried to figure out where to put your hands?!)

They're especially weird when you're dining with a client. (Or maybe David Beckham, because this is our newsletter.) And you're in a fancy restaurant. And you want to look polished and have good manners. But suddenly, you feel like a 6th grade child who's never eaten at a restaurant before: do your hands go in your lap? Do you rest them on the table? Do you HOLD YOUR GLASS WITH A DEATH GRIP SO NO ONE CAN SEE YOU TREMBLING?! (Cue: accidental intake of too much wine.)

Turns out, what's polite changes depending on where you are. Here's a simple rule that'll help you easily remember 99% of the time!

• In the United States and Britain 🇺🇸 🇬🇧: the polite thing is to fold your hands on your lap when not eating (if you grew up in America, you know you never put your hands on the table *smack*)
• In Europe 🇮🇹 🇨🇭 🇩🇪: it's the opposite! The polite thing to do when not eating is to keep your wrists on the edge of the table

This way, you can show up in the world without feeling like a giant ingrown toenail. (Unfortunately there is no emoji that does that sentence justice.)

Restraint: The Surprising Key to a Successful Cosmopolitan Digital Nomad Life

Freedom: it's the biggest buzzword in the digital nomad world, and also?

The biggest lie.

At least, it is if you hope to create a cosmopolitan digital nomad lifestyle—i.e. an upgraded version of the original digital nomad dream that now includes fulfilling remote work, a high income, your family, travel to world-class destinations, lots of space in your days, and a quality of life that was never possible before.

Yes, there's freedom in the sense of "I can be anywhere in the world right now doing work that matters to me while sipping on this giant German beer," but in order to do this lifestyle correctly, there must also be a good deal of restraint.

More restraint than you're used to, perhaps.

Because in order to pull off a life like this, you have to be prepared to say no...a lot. You have to be prepared to set boundaries around what will and will not work for you. You have to be prepared to create the right conditions for a nomadic existence—and a smart, strategic business that supports it.

There are many things you can't say yes to, because those opportunities will conflict with your bigger goals.

Two examples:

• Etsy shops and physical products. I mean, who doesn't want to hand-carve artisan rocking horse chairs out of oak trees in the backyard??? But doing so requires you to stay in one place. So, you've got to weigh your priorities: rocking horses, or rocking Hungary?
• Running your business like normal. Most service providers, for example, have clients. Most clients, for example, naturally email when they need something. This means that you, as a provider, need to be readily available and on-call. This is a normal way of doing business, but it's not an optimal way of doing business—particularly if you worked this morning but this afternoon you're hiking the Cliffs of Moher. Rather, a key to your success here will be in thoughtfully designing your days and introducing helpful client communication structures. One method that works well is assigning a special day and time for each client every week when you'll go over deliverables, answer any questions they have, and discuss ideas for moving forward. They get to feel special with your undivided attention during that time, and you get to plan out your schedule in a way that works.

Those are only two examples, but the message is clear: this lifestyle is about deliberate design. A successful nomadic lifestyle is an intentional one, planned well, and with thoughtful constraints....not endless amounts of freedom.

Unless, of course, we're talking about freedom to use as much Frizz Ease hair serum as you want. Because that is a kind of freedom that a nomad needs. 😉

Nomad Business Idea to Steal 👀

If it disappears, it's immediately in demand.

This is becoming a huge business trend. One may be tempted to think it's a result of the culture of fast social & disappearing stories, but if you look closely, that's not the case: luxury brands have always known this to be true. (Think: Chanel's purchase policy is that a customer can only buy two classic bags per year....on purpose.)

Now, however, we see this cropping up across a variety of other everyday businesses, too.

• Pidgin, a restaurant in London, changes it menu every week—and has NEVER served the same thing twice in six years (and 1,000 dishes later).
• And a famous pastry shop has a firm "once they're gone, they're gone!" policy.
• Soul Cycle famously opens reservations for their bikes every Monday at noon—and only lets you reserve for that week
• And creators are scheduling once-monthly, limited-edition collection "drops," with big buzz happening around the release date and time (and again, when it's gone, it's gone)

Value comes from demand. And demand can be created.

A common misconception is that the more available something is, the more sales you'll get. But, this isn't always true. Maybe having your stuff available for sale all the time isn't the best business decision.

Maybe wealth comes from restraint, too.

P.S. Did You Know?

The Blueberry. Every single blueberry in commercial production around the world can trace its domestication back to the pine barrens of—wait for it—New Jersey. I'm not really sure you should be thanking us for this information, but isn't the illustration nice?