Before you go to study, or when your studies are behind you and a promising career beckons, the decision to dedicate a serious wedge of time and money to travelling the world can seem counter-intuitive. Many of us entertain the idea of seeing new places for a while before consigning the idea to a drawer marked “I’ll Do It Once I’m Stable” – but in fact, business leaders and thought gurus refute this attitude, pointing out that travel early on in your personal development will equip a rising entrepreneur with all sorts of enviable skills and experiences. Books and exams are, after all, just one small subsection of a complete education.
Travel’s primary benefitting factor is the independence that it fosters. Removed from the security of everyday life, a traveler is forced to think, decide and act for themselves in situations where they would usually default to a cultural convention, habit, – or mum and dad. Not only will you develop serious levels of self-confidence by negotiating day-to-day with strangers from unfamiliar cultures, but the communication skills that you will be forced to learn will prove incredibly helpful in the business world. Learning languages has even been shown to increase the size of the brain – suggesting there’s power there that will go untapped if you never venture beyond your safety zone.
In fact, 95% of students who travelled abroad said that they developed a more sophisticated way of looking at the world, and 89% claim that travelling enabled them to deal with the very uncertainty that the ‘travel question’ poses – and which is a necessary challenge of any entrepreneurial activity. Similarly, 94% of business leaders see a competitive advantage in those that have travelled, suggesting that regardless of the nature of your experiences, travel on your CV sends positive vibes to potential employers. Check out this ace new infographic for even more reasons why travel may be the best investment a young entrepreneur can make.
- The World’s 12 Most Amazing Train Journeys [Infographic] - 05/15/2017
- From Dusk Till Dawn in The City That Never Sleeps [Infographic] - 05/15/2017
- 9 Weird British Expressions Illustrated - 12/06/2016
