the problem I faced in Thailand

I arrived in Thailand on June 6th.

The goal for the trip:

• Find a host in Thailand

• Do some work in exchange for accommodation

• Grow a new brand and business in my free time

I could have rented an Airbnb, but I wanted the trip to be more challenging.

Prior to arriving, I had found a Chinese family host who offered accommodation for one week.

However, after 1 day of arriving, I luckily found a couple at a small market who I ended up connecting with.

I mentioned my background in content creation, and they were interested.

The guy had an online coaching business related to online gambling.

The guy saw my YouTube channel and said he also wanted to create a channel to promote his coaching.

They also wanted to open a coffee shop, and they needed help with content.

I saw this as an opportunity to help them and get help from them (and had someone to live with after the 7 days with the Chinese fam).

So we agreed on a deal: one of their villas for free in exchange for my work.

Everything seemed really smooth so far.

Unexpected Problem

I was having a good time exploring and self-reflecting.

However, after one month, I started to feel weird around these hosts.

I am a person who loves good habits:

• Waking up early

• Go to the gym

• Eat healthy

• Read books

However, this couple had a different lifestyle.

• They woke up late

• They had a smoking addiction

• They didn't eat healthy or exercise…

And hey, anyone can have the lifestyle they want, but I didn't feel comfortable.

They were initially open-minded and helpful, but as time went by, I felt a weird vibe when I was around them.

I was also doing my best to help them, but their coffee shop wasn't legal yet (so I couldn't create many reels of the place).

One day, the guy asked me to create some gambling posts for one of his clients, but after trying, I couldn't get that work done.

I felt I was betraying my own values, doing nonsensical work for gambling people.

I couldn't get that work done.

A Heated Response.

At this point, I had 2 options:

• Tell them I had to work on my project and leave.

• Be honest with them by sharing the real reason why I was leaving.

I couldn't just leave like that (especially after giving them my word).

So I decided to be completely honest and tell them the truth:

• I didn't feel aligned with their lifestyle

• The coffee shop wasn't legal yet

• I didn't want to do any work related to gambling

When I went to their villa to explain, I wanted to be respectful about the smoking thing.

However, as soon as I mentioned this, the guy got triggered.

He was no longer the open-minded guy I had interacted with before; he instead turned into this really mad person who started to yell at me.

He told me to grab my things and the "f*ck" out of their place.

I had to literally run while being really scared cause this guy was an ex-professional fighter.

As I was packing my things, he came and continued to yell at me all sorts of things:

• Saying I was a scammer online

• Saying that I was a lazy person

• Telling me to pay for all the time I lived in the villa

He almost hit me while saying these things, but I stayed grounded.

I then walked away and paid them $500 for all the time I was in the villa.

Even though I helped them with everything I could, I still wanted to leave that place with clean hands.

The Lesson.

The hard lesson I learned here is that I overlooked my boundaries and values since the first day I met them:

• When I met this couple, I knew that they smoked.

• I knew that they had an online gambling coaching business.

But I let that pass.

I overlooked my core values and boundaries as a person.

And that cost me in the long term.

I couldn’t focus much on my content, cause I was overwhelmed.

Relating to other people is complicated; keep that always in mind.

That's why having clear values at the start of any relationship is essential.

Idea Execution.

In August, I rented an Airbnb and had now all the time to work on my project.

I took time to create a free guide for my audience.

It was a guide about all the things I've learned, but it took me more than I expected:

• I was not creating content because I wanted to finish the guide first.

• I was also reflecting a lot on the things I want to build for the future.

But one problem I realized later on this trip is that I took too much time reflecting.

There's one skill that I have been avoiding improving:

The skill of idea execution.

Many of us have amazing ideas flowing in our minds, but for some reason, we take a lot of time to execute.

The greatest skill anyone can master is getting good at closing the gap between idea generation and idea execution.

A Lesson About Family, Grind, and Balance.

As time went by, I started to miss my family.

And this was another lesson.

I love my family, but back when I was in my country, I saw them most of the time as a distraction:

• I wanted to work, and they wanted me to join their activities.

• This was annoying sometimes, cause I wanted to grind.

But now that I am away, I have started to see things from a whole different perspective.

I have all the time to focus…

But no family to laugh, play, and share time with.

I'm so grateful for this lesson cause I needed it a lot.

I can now see how I will balance work and sharing time with loved ones at the same time.

The grind culture will disagree with this, but trust me, balance is the key to a successful life without giving up your soul.

Final Thoughts.

Now that I'm at the end of the trip, I know I could've invested more time into:

• Writing

• Growing my brand on Twitter

• Focusing on one thing at a time

• And leveraging all this time that I was alone with no distractions.

However, it turned more into a self-reflecting journey.

One of the good points is that I also got to learn more about the Bible and God.

I got closer to God.

And even though I thought that I was going to build this new business from scratch and return to my country with a good cash flow…

Life ended up teaching me completely new lessons.

And I'm grateful for those lessons.

Now I'm ready to go back to my country and continue to work on the clear mission I have.

Thanks for reading.