The Opportunities That Living In Mexico Has Given Me

A standard life presents a standard quantity of opportunities.

But wouldn’t you like more than a standard quantity of opportunities? A higher quantity of opportunities equals more possibilities for you to get some good ones to choose from.

So how can you be presented with a higher quantity of opportunities?

The most apparent answer is to change something in your life.

The thing I changed was moving to Mexico.

And it worked.

Moving to Mexico provided me with a lot more opportunities than I would have been presented with if I had stayed where I was in the US. I’ll bet the same would be true for you.

Here’s a list of the opportunities I was presented with by moving here to Mexico and what actions I took or insights I gained as a result. If you moved here, you would probably be presented with a lot of the same ones as me.

Opportunities not related to my business

Note: I took the pictures for this article yesterday, by walking around my home and the immediate neighborhood. The high today will be about 75 degrees in late August because I live in the Mexican Highlands, at about 5,000 feet elevation, with close to perfect weather all year. All the amenities (the pool, the tennis and pickleballs courts, the social areas, etc.) are all included in the rent, which is significantly less than my daughter pays in the US. In contrast with her one-bedroom apartment in the Salt Lake City area, for less money than she pays, we get a 3,000 square foot home, lots of amenities included, with a great yard and spectacular views.

It costs a lot less to live here in Mexico. A lot less. If you moved here, this would present you with three opportunities:

• you could have a much better lifestyle in Mexico for the same amount of money you would spend in the US;
• you could spend less than you would have in the US for the same lifestyle here in Mexico; or,
• you can find your place in the middle.

The opportunities are here. The choice is yours.

What opportunities would this lower cost of living give you?

The most obvious one is that you would have the opportunity not to be as stressed and preoccupied with money. Does that sound good? It does to me. What opportunities does this diminution of the importance of money provide? Lots of them. Here are a few.

You can be more gracious. Did a waiter go out of his way for you? Give him a big tip. Does the woman standing in front of the grocery store say she needs food? Go in a buy her a nice meal and just give it to her. Why? Because you can. It’s easy. The money it costs you to make a big difference in the day of this woman just isn’t that much for you, so why not do it?

And speaking of helping others, in Mexico, it is completely different than in the US. In the US, I had experience “feeding the hungry” who were too preoccupied on their cell phones to acknowledge me and my family, and we painted the house of a woman whose perfectly healthy sons were inside, watching TV instead of painting. By contrast, here in Mexico, there are people who really need the help. And rather than giving charity an organization that you hope will get some of the money you give to the people who need it, you give directly to the people who need it. Big difference all around.

Other relationships are better because I don’t need to make as much money to afford our lifestyle. Obvious point: marriages and other relationships are happier when there are not money problems.

We have met the loveliest people here in Mexico who of course, we never would have met if we had stayed in the US. Just one example is our housekeepers. Socio-economically and in many other ways, their background is quite a bit different than ours, which serves only to broaden and deepen our relationship. We cherish their friendship and perspectives and enjoy spending time together.

Consistent with this, moving to Mexico has allowed us to learn a new culture. What does that do? If you take the opportunity, it allows you to compare and contrast another culture with yours and perhaps adopt some of the aspects of the other culture that are better for your life. And even if you don’t, as a result of the exercise, you’ll understand your own culture better.

By moving to Mexico, you’ll have success in a moderately difficult circumstance, including moving to a new country, speaking at least some of a new language, adapting to a new culture, etc. Your success in these areas will spill over into increased competence, confidence, a better attitude and success in other parts of your life otherwise not related. Success in one area creates a virtuous cycle of success elsewhere.

Moving to Mexico provided me with the opportunity to find out that almost all of my preconceptions about Mexico were wrong. As Mark Twain wrote, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” How valuable is it to you to know that, just like you were wrong about Mexico, you could be wrong about all sorts of other things as well? Adam Grant wrote a best-selling book about this called “Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know.” One of the main reasons why the book resonated with me so easily is that I had already experienced being quite wrong, so I was open to the concepts.

On a more pedestrian level, when I first came here, I visited the Mexican equivalent of a podiatrist (a “podologico”) about a problem I had put off in the US because I didn’t want to spend the money to get it looked at. Here, I happily spent the equivalent of $12.50 for a treatment that, within three sessions, took care of it. I’ve been going once a month ever since. I also just got a great massage the other day. I’ll be going back weekly. Why? Because here, I can afford to. Both are nice opportunities I’m taking advantage of.

Greater appreciation for the US and for Mexico

In addition to gaining a greater appreciation for Mexico and its people, moving to Mexico provided me with the opportunity to gain a greater appreciation for the US. Here’s an example. When I interact with our housekeepers or our gardeners or many other people here in Mexico, it is apparent that I have a lot more money and opportunities than they do but I’m not any smarter or more hard-working. Why is that?

The main reason is a geographic accident of birth. I was born north of the border, and they were born south of the border. If that were reversed, would I be in their situation and they in mine? I believe that would be the case. Thank you, thank you, USA.

Business-related

You may or may not start a business in Mexico, but even if you don’t, my experience may have some spillover into your overall understanding of what it’s like to live and work here.

About five years ago, I started a business here in Mexico, Best Mexico Movers. Would it have been as easy to start a business like this in the US?

No; it would have been much, much harder; perhaps close to impossible.

One example. When I was considering what to name our business, I started with a name that would get high rankings on search engines such as Google. My process was to start with the name I figured would get the best rankings and when I would discover that that one was taken, I would move on to the second-best name, the third, etc., until I landed on the remaining best name not already taken.

Just for fun, I entered my first choice, Best Mexico Movers, which I thought had about a one in one thousand chance of not already being taken. Imagine my surprise when I saw that no one had already taken it and that it was available. That’s when I knew I could run a good business here in Mexico.

Do you have an idea for a business in Mexico? If you do, you’ll probably find that the competition is nowhere near as fierce as in the US.

And who would you hire? I have five Mexicans working for me, all between the ages of 24 and 29. They are a joy to be around and I have a lot of fun interacting with them. All are college-educated, high-spirited, bi-lingual, very hard-working, sophisticated, traveled, smart, patient, kind, organized, energetic, diligent, with great values, etc. Would I be able to find the same in the US? My experience tells me that it would be increasingly difficult, which is understating the situation.

A related opportunity here in Mexico is that Mexican young people like the ones working for me and almost all the others with whom I have come into contract still respect their elders. As an elder, this would give you a great opportunity to have a positive impact to mentor young people (in this case, Mexicans), who are actually interested in what you have to say.

A business like ours gives us another opportunity, which is to assist our clients, who are people who need help through a stressful time and to set them on the right trajectory in Mexico by making one of their first experiences here a positive one. This is also where my staff comes in, in that they are genuinely interested in helping others, like our clients, and of course, they are Mexican, so they represent the country and its people. If I had not come here and if I had not started this business, I would not have had this opportunity to be so beneficial to our clients.

How to avoid acting on increased opportunities

Does everyone who comes to live in Mexico take advantage of these and other opportunities? No. Some (the famous “grumpy gringo”) focus on the fact that a repairman didn’t show up on time or who tell any local who would listen how they do it up north. Some become so bored with their extra time that they drink too much. However, most of us who come to live here in Mexico do take advantage of these opportunities and more, so you can be very, very proud of your fellow expatriates who live here. I have never seen the Ugly American, even though I have seen some grumpy ones, but it is very rare. Most expats here are great, live fulfilling lives and do a lot of good.

Could I have gotten these opportunities if I stayed in the US? I suppose so, but it would have required a lot of changes to generate the quantity of opportunities that were placed before me just by moving to Mexico and if I had stayed in the US it would have been pretty difficult to do. The more difficult = the less likely.

I’ll take easier and more likely.

How about you?