By Doug Corley
We’ve all heard the clichés about “comfort zone” and “personal growth hacking.” Here I was, a young college graduate and about to move halfway across the globe on a whim. There was no safety net nor way out, either: I’d signed a contract and had told all my friends and family I’d be moving to China soon. Armed with little more than a college degree in which I’d studied everything I could get my hands on, I had little practical knowledge about how the world worked. But that didn’t stop my family from allowing me to head to the Far East.
You see, I was supposed to take the safe route: pre-medical, medical school, training, wife and kids and the whole nine yards. But it dawned on me while finishing my undergraduate studies mid-year that I hadn’t considered anything larger than the bubble I had always lived in. And all my science and philosophy classes couldn’t prepare me for what was in store: a massive country, a diverse culture, and a pace of life that I had never seen.
I was fascinated at first with the pictographic structure of Mandarin and with traditional cultures. But, upon arrival, found little of Confucian and Buddhist culture in the superficial layers of modern China. Upon learning the language, the family structure and business culture, however, it became clear that these areas of deep fascination were present in China but in a different flavour. What I sought was not what I found. But it satisfied my inquisitive mind being able to decipher the connection points that showed traces of Confucian culture in contemporary Chinese structures.
A great sense of learning occurred when I realized finally that the professional side of life is the simpler of the two. You see, you’ll always be able to measure success and failure in work. KPIs will be set, performance measured, and bonuses paid if you do well. And if not? You’ll find out quickly, too. But the self-awareness aspect, the personal side of life, this is where the learning really begins. When you can clearly state your values and your strengths and weaknesses, when you identify the right environment and people for you to be around, you begin to equip yourself for true lifelong success.
Academics are valuable and a degree from a prestigious school may open doors for you. But as a CEO of a company that has grown from a one-man shop to a presence in three continents, I can tell you with confidence that I have hired graduates from no-name schools and fired ivy leaguers for the same reason: awareness.
3 Tips For Expats Abroad
Stay committed to learning the language, it’s the only way you will truly appreciate the culture.
Explore the other side of town. It’s good to have your fellow expatriates as good friends but remember why you’re overseas.
Visit neighbouring countries so you can learn more about the region and in doing so, will identify exciting future adventures.
I’ll end with a quote for you to think about, from Marcus Aurelius (stoic philosopher):
"Observe constantly that all things take place by change, and accustom thyself to consider that the nature of the Universe loves nothing so much as to change the things which are, and to make new things like them."
Douglas is a Beijing-based healthcare entrepreneur and the CEO and Co-Founder of DHB Global, an AI-driven health investment platform. Douglas grew up in Omaha, and was educated at Creighton University. After graduating in 2010 with a double degree in biomedical science and analytic philosophy, he left the U.S. to begin working in basic science research in Beijing. He spent three years concurrently in Chinese Academy of Science, 301 (PLA) Military Hospital and Peking University conducting basic science research on NCDs, he later worked in private healthcare at United Family Health. It was these positions where he began to map out the infrastructure gaps in therapies as well as clinical practice and policies across the disease spectrum in China.
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