How Changing Your Environment Can Positively Change You
I remember back when making my decision of what school I’d go to, the location had nothing to do with it. I never thought about the fact that this might ultimately be where I start my career and young adult life. I just saw it as I’ll be here for 8 months out of the year and the other 4 would be back home for 4 years and then just move back home to live the rest of my life.
Looking back, I’m extremely grateful that I made the choice to end up in Milwaukee. For pieces that I’ll talk about a bit later, I didn’t think moving would change me as much as it has and that I’d call anywhere other than my hometown of Cambridge, WI home, but here we are.
Ever since middle school (and definitely during high school), I considered myself a small-town guy. I thought the bigger city life was for folks who had an ego and thought they were better than everyone else. To me, who wouldn’t want to live in the same town their whole life with the same friends, events, and traditions?
What Moving To A Bigger City Made Me Realize
When moving to Milwaukee at first, I thought I was THE guy (like I’m guessing a lot of guys at 18 feel). After a few months though, I started to see things a bit differently. I realized that I wasn’t in the small pond I lived in for 18 years and now I was definitely a small fish in a big pond and had to learn how to navigate it.
Navigating certainly didn’t come easy and it took a while for me to learn that small-town Tommy needed to make a few changes in the views I had, how I went about my days, and 100% in my maturity level, so let’s dive into those.
Now when I get into the changes I’ve experienced, that doesn’t mean I’m putting down living in a small town or that having your life built there is a bad thing. When I say I was going to stay there the rest of my life, I meant it. I planned to have my “barstool” at the local spots, go to every sporting event, and always hit up the local fish fry on Fridays.
We all have different pieces of life that we like whether that’s a life that’s a bit slower or one that has new things constantly, neither of them is bad, they’re just preferences.
What Changed When I Moved To A New Place
Experience different cultures
Getting into it though, likely the most impactful change that I’ve seen in myself since moving is the amount I’ve been able to experience and appreciate different cultures other than my own (and these are ones that I likely would have never experienced if I just stayed in my small town).
To put it in simple terms, my hometown is a pretty country area and I didn’t get to experience much diversity unless we went to different sporting events out of town or some of the games I played in baseball and basketball.
Moving to Milwaukee was pretty much the opposite of that and I quickly learned that people live their lives differently and that’s okay, my way didn’t need to be the only way and my beliefs didn’t have to be the only correct ones.
I remember vividly getting my internship on the Northwest side of Milwaukee and the first day was quite interesting. I was in a warehouse with everyone being different from me and at first, I was pretty dang shy.
I didn’t know if I’d be able to relate to them or maybe I’d say something wrong that would paint a bad depiction of who I am as a person.
Fast forward to the end of it, a lot of those coworkers became great friends and people I still stay in touch with. I can also say I was invited to the parties and ate soul food for the first time (something that if you haven’t had it before you should.)
From this, I learned that just because others have different upbringings and might be from a different cultures, it doesn’t mean we can’t get along or be friends, it’s more about the human aspect than any of that.
Get out of my old routine
Now one of the great things about all the different cultures here in the city is that there are events all the time, which leads me to another change in how I had to get out of my old routines and explore more.
As a teenager, it was pretty repetitive.
Monday through Thursday are for work and school, Fridays are for football games, and all weekend nights are for the bars. Again, nothing wrong with that (trust me I had a lot of fun), but I got pretty used to that routine and didn’t stray too far from it.
By moving to the city I had to get out of that routine and explore.
Each weekend looked different whether it was going down to the Summerfest grounds for Italian Fest or hitting up the night market down by the Grand Avenue Mall, there was never a lack of things to do or a lack of new experiences I could explore.
I truly never realized how repetitive my life was until I moved. I saw the same people, had the same drinks, and saw the same school compete against each other for a while.
As fun, as this was, it didn’t allow me to meet new people and build new relationships that could turn into friendships down the line. Once I got out of that routine, I started to enjoy each week because I knew that each one didn’t have to look the same unless I wanted it to.
Grow up
The last change though was probably the best one for me to experience and that was that I had to grow up and mature more than maybe I even wanted to at the time.
In my hometown, I lived at home, didn’t have to worry about bills, and definitely didn’t have to grocery shop (which I’m still trying to figure out how to do effectively…).
Everything was pretty much handled for me, all I needed was gas and beer money and I was set.
Now over the years of living on my own and in a bigger city, I’ve had to learn the normal things like how to handle my finances or how to craft a good resume, but I’ve also had to learn how the heck to get my car out of the impound and how to find and negotiate rent at the right place.
There have been countless things that I’ve learned just due to being forced to because if I didn’t a lot could go wrong or just end up in a poor situation (just like if I never got my car back…).
This doesn’t mean you can’t learn similar or even other important lessons in a small town, but for me, I need to be forced to take more responsibility for how my life ended up.
As I said though, I could go on and on about the things that have changed me over the years living in the city but let’s get onto why I believe it’s important to switch up how you live for at least a little bit.
Why I Believe You Should Change Up Your Environment
This can go either way. It could be you’re from the city and you go out to a small country town or you’re like me and grew up in that small town spot and move to a bigger city.
That change, either way, will make a bigger impact than you might think and I get that it can be scary or even something you never considered, but coming from a guy who never thought he would move, it’s been a blessing.
You might end up loving the new spot
To be honest, you might even learn that you love the opposite of your current situation and never end up leaving the new place you call home.
That’s exactly how I feel these days. As much as I love the country and try to go back every now and then, I really don’t see myself living anywhere other than in a city for a while. Now that might be different cities but I love the fast-paced environment and the people you get to meet.
Don’t let your preconceived notions or what you think you like the most or how scary it might be stopping you from trying something new.
And with new, comes the second piece which are you get a fresh start.
You get a fresh start
If you’re like me, when you move to a new place the odds that people know who are are pretty slim, which of course can add to the nerves you feel but you can also see this as the ability to reinvent yourself.
How often do you think to yourself? Man, I wish I could just start over and become that skateboard kid I’ve always wanted to be. (Maybe that’s just me…). But I’m guessing you’ve had similar thoughts about enjoying something new or changing the way you dress but are too scared to do so because the people you’re currently around have always known you as are.
In my story, this likely saved me from a pretty interesting adult life and was a change that I eventually grew into. I went from that country partying kid to still having a lot of fun but learning how I can grow my skills in business and marketing (and maybe you just call this growing up, but I know if I would’ve stayed where I was I’d still be the old Tommy).
Now it might not change you at all and you might not have similar thoughts I did about reinventing yourself but a fresh start can also come in the form of friendships and experiences as I mentioned before. Really whatever you wish you could do but are scared because of judgment, well this fresh start gives you at least a chance to make that pivot.
You get to understand different perspectives
Coming up to my last point, I’ll keep this one pretty brief but it’s that the beliefs you have living in the same spot for years never get challenged and are likely just what everyone around you believes.
As I’ve stated many times, this isn’t a bad thing and this was certainly a piece of me that I never thought would change but I have found the importance of at least being around people who don’t see the world the same as I do and it’s come with many great conversations.
Many of my beliefs have stayed the same but I’d be lying if I said I haven’t learned about a new perspective that I’ve understood and started to adopt into what I believe.
It’s easy to stay in that box and never get out but then you never get challenged or at the minimum, see the other side of the coin.
The beautiful thing about all of this is that if you do move and try something new and hate it, well you can move right back to where you were and what you love.
Just like how I thought I’d be here just for school and then move back home, you can do that.
If you do decide to stay and do end up changing a bit along that journey, I will say that as much as it might be right for you, it can still come with some heartbreak and judgment.
Not all of your hometown friends will understand why you don’t visit as much and I know from experience that it can be hard to look back at all the memories without sad thoughts about how it’ll never be the same.
There are tradeoffs whatever way you go but from my perspective so far, that change in scenery and that challenge of taking on a new type of world is one that you’ll thank yourself for years later even if you end up back where you were.
