Ep.93 Georgie Darling: Travel Writer And Freedom Coach On Redesigning Work To Serve Your Life

Feeling stuck? Need to get off the treadmill and escape the daily grind? Book a Rebel Reset Session with me here and I'll help you get clear on where you're going and how to get there.

What if freedom isn’t a stamp-filled passport but a calendar that finally breathes? I sit down with travel-writer-turned-coach Georgie Darling to unpack how a business can fund a bigger life instead of quietly swallowing it. From the early thrill of flights and flexible work to the hard truth of vanishing time, Georgie maps the shift from chasing escape to designing ease—on purpose.

We get specific about the levers that matter: auditing your workload to kill performative tasks, tightening your offer into services you love, and pricing for stability with retainers that buy back hours. Georgie shares how she helps creative women—writers, videographers, digital marketers—ditch hustle myths, set humane boundaries, and choose clients who energise instead of exhaust. For midlife listeners balancing kids and careers, we explore freedom that looks like steady income, clear guardrails and emotional confidence in your craft, not another app to master.

Travel can be a mirror. Notice the feelings you chase—curiosity, calm, aliveness—and rebuild your week to create them without a boarding pass. Start with a small rebellion: a half-day for joy, a solo lunch, a train to somewhere new. Then write to your future self and use simple tools— a goal breakdown, a firm schedule—to turn vision into steps. You don’t need every skill under the sun; you need mastery, messaging and the courage to say no when your gut whispers red flag.

Ready to design a business that gives you a life? Press play, then tell me the one hour you’ll reclaim this week. If this conversation helped, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs permission to go slower, and leave a quick review so more rebels can find us.

https://thefreedomroute.com/

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Chapters

• 0:00 Setting The Rebel Tone
• 1:44 Meet Georgie: Fun As A Strategy
• 4:05 Redefining Freedom Beyond Travel
• 6:40 Escaping Hustle Culture
• 8:18 Auditing A Business For Freedom
• 10:56 Structure, Pricing And Boundaries
• 13:24 Freedom At Midlife
• 16:14 Confidence Over Tech Overwhelm
• 18:17 Storytelling To Reimagine Your Life
• 21:09 Places Loved And Planning Style
• 24:38 Values, Privilege And Choice
• 27:07 Solo Travel And Self-Trust
• 29:15 A Small Rebellious Reset
• 31:31 Ignoring Expectations And Limits
• 34:09 First Steps Into Travel Writing
• 37:00 Rebellious Recap And Close

Transcript

Georgie Darling: 0:00

Really channeling that creativity. I like to take all of these feelings that I get from travelling and think how can I build upon them in my day-to-day life? And I think when you know how you want to feel, it's easier to then plug the gaps of thinking, what else can I do that that channels this feeling? Like what else can I do to build upon this so that more of my time can be spent feeling how amazing I feel in all of these different places.

Zoe Greenhalf: 0:21

Hey there, welcome or welcome back to the Mischief Movement Podcast. I'm Zoe, your guide on this journey to shake up the status quo and design a life that truly makes you feel alive. If you've ever felt disconnected, stuck on autopilot, or trapped in a life that feels more like a treadmill than an adventure, you're in the right place. I know the change can feel scary, so let's turn down the fear and crank up the fears as we transform your life from the inside out. Whether it's solo episodes packed with actionable advice or interviews with some absolute ballass human beings who've dared to defy the norm by living life their way, we're here to inspire, activate, empower and challenge you each week. My mission is simple: to help you reawaken your rebel spirit, break free from mediocrity, and design a life that's anything but dull. You only get one wildlife. So what are you planning to do with yours? If you're ready to stop settling, start living boldly and create a positive impact along the way. Let's dive in and stir up some mischief together. Now buckle up and let's go. Welcome back to the Mischief Movement Podcast, the place where we ditch the rule book, shake off the sensible life, and design something that actually feels alive. Today I've got a guest who knows a thing or two about escaping the boxes that we build around ourselves. Georgie Darling started out as a travel writer chasing freedom across continents, only to realise that real freedom isn't about flights and palm trees. It's about building a business that gives you a life, not a life that revolves around your business. She now coaches creative women who want more fun, more freedom, and clients that actually make sense. And today we're digging into what that kind of clarity looks like in the real world. Whether you've got a backpack and no strings, or you're juggling kids, careers, and that constant itch for something more, this conversation is packed with ideas that you can steal, bend, and break to create a life that feels a whole lot more like your own. So grab a drink, get comfy, and let's wander into the wild with Georgie. So, back this week for another episode of the podcast, and this time I'm joined by Georgie Darling. So thank you for joining me. Um, Georgie, what is your mischief?

Georgie Darling: 2:49

Hello, thank you, first of all, for having me on the show. I think my mischief is squeezing as much fun out of day-to-day life as I can. I think my priority in life, in business, in everything I do day-to-day is just making it fun, having a bit of mischief. What's the point if it doesn't have fun?

Zoe Greenhalf: 3:06

I totally agree. Um, and so how do you weave that into your day-to-day life? What does that look like for you?

Georgie Darling: 3:12

I think I always try to weave a bit of novelty into my day-to-day life. So sometimes it's relatively mundane things like working in a different coffee shop or a different cafe. Sometimes it's things like deciding that Portugal was too cold this time of year and flying to Mexico for a month, which is what I'm doing now. Sometimes it's things like this morning. I woke up and should have done my usual routine of going to the gym, doing a bit of work, but I had a really busy weekend and I woke up and thought it's not really what I want to do today. So I've just been lying by the swimming pool for about two hours. So I think just treating myself a bit more like a child in the way of letting myself do the things I want to do when I want to do them, I find that that is a nice way to add a bit of mischief into my day. But also I think it makes me more creative and therefore better at my job as well. So it's a win-win.

Zoe Greenhalf: 3:59

Yeah, 100%. Um, now you started out chasing freedom through travel writing. Um, when did you realise that freedom isn't just about where you can go, but how you build work around your life?

Georgie Darling: 4:15

I think it took me a few years to figure out what freedom looked like for me. And to be honest, it's still something that I think is shifting nowadays. I kind of think to myself that things have changed a lot over time, as they always typically do, and what freedom looks like to me now isn't likely going to be what freedom looks like to me in a couple of years' time. So I always keep it quite flexible. But I think when I first started my freelance travel writing business, I had this notion that if I was self-employed, then I had freedom automatically. And if I wasn't chained to a desk, if I wasn't working in London five days a week, then I would automatically have that freedom. But what I actually found was that as my business grew, as things got busier, it was great because it gave me more financial freedom. And I had the location freedom of being able to travel the world, but I was losing the time freedom because the busier I got, the more clients I was taking on, the less time I actually had. And it got to a point where I found that as much as it looked on paper like I had the freedom, I was actually doing things in a way that was taking away more and more of my freedom every week. So then it was a case of thinking about what time freedom looked like to me and how did I want to spend my time when I wasn't working, and very much clawing that back to basics and then starting to rebuild the business in a way that was a lot more aligned with the time freedom as well as the other types.

Zoe Greenhalf: 5:33

Yeah, I think that's such a common trap that people fall into, isn't it? Um you just you have an idea of what you you think freedom is, and then you find yourself inside your business to the point where you're kind of questioning where the freedom is actually gone.

Georgie Darling: 5:52

Yeah, yeah. It's something that I think a lot of business owners struggle with, especially when they are new to the business world, because often we start our businesses doing the things that we're passionate about, but no one really teaches us how to do the marketing side of things. So we find that we get better and better at the skills that we love, but actually sometimes you do the have to reflect and take a step back and think, but actually, is this the business that I wanted? Am I spending my life doing the stuff that I love, which is what I set out to do? Or actually has this just transitioned into a different type of corporate setup? Just, you know, I'm the boss, I'm the one giving myself over time and telling myself to start earlier and things like that.

Zoe Greenhalf: 6:28

Yeah, but I mean, in your experience, what do people get wrong about designing a business that actually gives them more life instead of quietly eating it up?

Georgie Darling: 6:40

I think the problem is that we're often told that hustle culture is the way forward. And we're often told that to do better means to do more. And I think for any business owners that spend a lot of time on platforms like LinkedIn, and I I do have a a lot to credit to LinkedIn for helping me to grow my business, but I also do find that there is a huge culture on there of people really telling you to put your head down and really telling you to like just work away as many hours that you can. And there's a lot of very famous people in the business world as well who are very much focused on like the more you can do, the better it will be. And I think it's very easy to subscribe to that, especially because in the early stages of building a business, you do have to put your head down. But it's a case of finding that balance. And I think the thing that people struggle with is that especially because there is probably always more that you can do when you're building your business, it's a case of allowing yourself to take that step back and thinking to yourself, like, if I put in an extra two hours of work tonight, is it going to benefit me, or would it actually benefit me more to take a break and to spend that time like letting myself relax, letting my brain just have a bit of downtime? And it's very difficult, I think, and I include myself in this, for a lot of business owners to see rest as being something beneficial when so many people around us are just telling us that we should always be doing more.

Zoe Greenhalf: 7:58

Yeah, uh, I totally agree. And I know that you're now writing and coaching, aren't you? Yes.

Georgie Darling: 8:06

Yes.

Zoe Greenhalf: 8:07

Yeah. So what do some of you, you know, if your clients come to you for more freedom and more fun, um, what does that look like? And and how can someone tell when they're when they're working with the wrong clients or they're working with the wrong systems? Do you go in and and kind of help them figure this stuff out?

Georgie Darling: 8:26

Yeah, very much so. I think the first step of what I do with 99% of people that I work with is to audit their current business because often there's things that we can streamline, there's things that we can refine, there's things that we're doing that are not actually necessary in business. They're not helping to move the needle forward, they're just things that people, again on LinkedIn or different business coaches or things are telling us we should do because they're what, you know, looks good on paper, things like that. And often it's very difficult to actually see what you're doing that is unnecessary or what you're doing that might actually be a bit counterproductive to your growth. So, one thing I was told by a business coach, I think at some point last year, was that the label on the jar looks foggy from the inside. I'm making sure I say this the correct way. And what she meant by that is that when you are inside the jar, it's very difficult to read the label on the jar because you see it from the inside. Whereas when you're external to the jar, when you can see it from a third-party perspective, you can read it really clearly. So I like to be that third party with a lot of my coaching clients. And they they think, as we all do, that they know their business inside out. But actually, sometimes when someone can look at your business from a different perspective, they can say to you, have you considered doing it this way? Or have you thought about maybe dropping that or switching that up or even just changing something as simple as how you build that client for that very same service? And I think that is probably quite an underrated thing to do because ultimately it doesn't change the shape of your business. It just changes the very small day-to-day bits that allow you to feel more free or allow you to take on more clients because you've clawed back those bits of time. So that's always the first step of just taking things back to basics. And then after that, I like to look at planning things. I am a huge planner. I have a daily to-do list, you know, five, five or six days a week, I would say. I make monthly goals, I make annual goals. There are always goals that I'm working towards. And I think goals are very helpful as well when you're looking at adding in more freedom to your business because it's all well and good for someone to sit there and say, I want to work three days a week, but if you don't have the current client load to support that, or if you have, I don't know, so many other things going on in your business and your life that don't allow that to happen, then you're probably not going to bring it to life unless you get very clear on what that looks like. So if you're working three days a week, what are you spending the other two days doing? How are you making sure that you can fit all of that work into those three days? Are you charging the right prices? Are you working with the correct clients? Are you ensuring that the people you work with are conscious and mindful of your boundaries? Things like that. So a lot of it is very structural, is kind of quite boring work, I would say, which is maybe not something beneficial to admit. But I often think business strategy very important, not the most exciting part of what we do by far. And that's one side of it. The other part, in terms of touching on what you said about working with the right clients and things like that, I do really think that gut instinct comes into this as well, which is frustrating because you can't teach something like gut instinct. But I think just paying attention to how you feel when you're working with each of those clients, like does it light you up? Or are you dreading opening their emails? Do you look forward to having a quick 20-minute catch-up call with them? Or are you putting it off and off and off because you know that for whatever reason they're going to say something that frustrates you, angers you, irritates you, things like that. So it's a combination, I would say, of leaning in and very much trusting yourself and building confidence through that, and also looking at the more structural part and combining that to build the freedom lifestyle that you want.

Zoe Greenhalf: 11:52

Yeah, yeah. That sounds like a good um mix of both the intuition and the actual strategy itself. Are you mainly working with writers or do your clients span different industries?

Georgie Darling: 12:07

Mostly writers. So my professional background was journalism, moved into um branded content and copywriting. And then nowadays, yeah, all of my writing stuff is well, half of my business. So my background is entirely in writing. But I have I have worked with women in other creative industries before. So my very first coaching client was a videographer. I've worked with virtual assistants, with social media managers, digital marketing managers, things like that. But it is mostly writers, I think, because they resonate a lot with the process that I've been through of building my own business. But yeah, women in the creative industries is kind of how I how I describe the people that I work with.

Zoe Greenhalf: 12:47

Yeah. Um, and I suppose a lot of my listeners are gonna be in midlife. Some of them have got kids, careers, and responsibilities that change how freedom looks. Um what principles of your approach still hold true for them, like no matter whether they're looking for the the the kind of lifestyle of a freelance writer or somebody creative, maybe they've got they're a bit more sort of confined.

Georgie Darling: 13:18

Yeah, I think freedom looks different to everyone. And while some of the people that I work with are similar paths to me and are looking to take their business remote, travel the world, things like that, I do also work with a lot of women in their 40s and their 50s, sometimes in their 60s. And freedom, I think, looks unique to everyone. But for example, the women who are maybe within those age brackets, I think they're looking for things like maybe scaling down the business so they can spend more time with family. Or like some of the women I've worked with in their late 30s, a couple of them early 40s, they've wanted to have children, but these are the ones who are mostly in the US. They haven't felt safe enough to have children because of like the US's terrible maternity pay or lack of and things like that. So sometimes freedom for them is mostly the financial freedom, and I'll work with them so they can build their business mostly around retainer clients. And that way they have that nice consistent income and they feel free enough to have children. So for some people it's location freedom, traveling the world, some people it's time and financial and yeah, all of the other types of freedom. And I think one other thing as well that keeps coming up more so than it used to, I think, is the emotional freedom. And I think a lot of women that I've worked with who are in their late 40s, 50s onwards, they often find that they they struggle sometimes to find new clients. And I think in an industry where there's a lot of pressure nowadays to do like video calls before you even potentially, you know, start working with that client or things like that. And there's so much new tech around and things like that. I often work with women who will say to me, Georgie, do I need to be an SEO expert to be a freelance writer nowadays? Like, do I need to know all of these different technical things? And I don't know most of these things myself. And I think giving them the confidence and saying to them, like, you don't need to be, you know, 110% involved in all of these different technical things, you just need to be good at the craft that you're offering clients. And I think maybe for people who, for example, have had 20 years, 30 years in the magazine industry and are now trying to move into something like copywriting, then the emotional freedom that they have of thinking, actually, I'm still very good at my job. I'm still very good at the services that I offer. I have this incredible career history. I think allowing people and guiding them, I think, to have that emotional security and emotional freedom is a really big part of overall freedom as well, I think.

Zoe Greenhalf: 15:42

Yeah. I mean, what do you say to somebody who feels like that? Because I can imagine that a lot of people get intimidated by things like, I mean, technology is the obvious one. You you step into that kind of uh role and you suddenly think that you've got to be able to wear 10 hats at once. Um, you know, how do you navigate that situation?

Georgie Darling: 16:02

I mostly just use myself and with confidentiality in mind, my other coaching clients. Because, for example, my travel writing, I mostly do long-form blog blog content. I do some newsletter stuff, but I I have my own funnels and automations and things, but I don't offer that for my clients. I I do, I would say three different types of writing for them. And whenever people say to me things like, Do I need to have all of these technical skills? I say no. And I think I'm proof of that. Like I've been writing for just over a decade now. And I think when I first started out, I was also really convinced that you have to do 110 different things just to show that you can, you know, be on a similar level to people new to the industry. But I actually think people really value expertise. And I think if you're stuck between choosing two writers and one of them is a kind of jack of all trades but master of none, and the other one can say, look, I've been in the magazine industry for 20 years, and I don't do social media content and I don't do TikTok, I don't know, video scripts and things like that. But what I can do is write these incredible long-form features, and I can write website copy because I've done that for loads and loads of other people. I think that really is all you need. And I think it does take a slightly different approach in how you market yourself, but I do think it's very, very possible.

Zoe Greenhalf: 17:20

You know, I've been talking to so many people lately who feel a bit stuck. Not broken or lost, but just caught in that weird in-between where you know that you're meant for more, but you just can't seem to get yourself moving. Um, and honestly, I get it because I've been there too. That's actually why I created something new called the Rebel Reset. It's a 90-minute session where we shake things up, we cut through the fog, and we get you moving again in a way that actually feels like you. So if you've been waiting for a sign or you're tired of ending the year feeling frustrated, this might be exactly what you need. You can just message me reset on Instagram or you can reply directly via text through the show notes if you're curious. All right. Back to the episode. Thinking about travel writing and how it taught you how to shape stories, how can creative people use storytelling, not online, but you know, sort of internally as well, to redesign how they see themselves and the life that they want? Ooh, this is a great question.

Georgie Darling: 18:37

One thing I really love about traveling is that it always shows me different interests that I have, or I meet new people who are really interesting and I learn about them and about their day-to-day life and their goals. And that allows me to reflect back and think, is that something I would like to do? And if so, how could I do that? So that I think is a really good way to reflect upon yourself and think from all these experiences, what would I like to do more of? What would I like to do less of? And I think as well, a really big part for me is thinking about how I feel when I'm traveling. And obviously, there's all these different feelings, like if I'm staying in a nice luxury resort somewhere, I'm probably feeling quite relaxed, and I'm lying in the sunshine, and I'm thinking, this is a glorious feeling, I want to feel like this more often. And how can I build a freedom lifestyle that allows me to spend more time lying in the sunshine, like taking a dip in the swimming pool every 30 minutes? Or for example, I was in Iraq a few years ago, which was a really, really interesting place and so different to all of the stuff that, like, I don't know, the UK travel regulations and things will tell you about a place like Iraq. And going there, it allowed me to look at somewhere I'd never been before with very fresh eyes. It piqued a lot of curiosity and it really made me think like, what are the feelings coming up here? I'm feeling like I'm seeing a place for the very first time to me, and I'm meeting people from completely different backgrounds, I'm trying different foods and drinks. Drinks that I've never even, you know, heard the names of before and things like that. And I think really channeling that creativity and that curiosity as well. I think I like to take all of these feelings that I get from traveling and think, how can I build upon them in my day-to-day life? And I think when you know how you want to feel, it's easier to then plug the gaps of thinking, what else can I do that that channels this feeling? Like what else can I do to build upon this so that more of my time can be spent feeling how amazing I feel in all of these different places? Yeah. Have you got a favorite place that you've been so far? I've been asked this a few times and I always struggle to think up the answer. Sometimes I would say Vietnam, which is funny because there's nowhere particularly in Vietnam that I could see myself living. But I love, I've travelled from north to south twice now, I think. It's two or three times. And I love the food, I think the people are really funny, like in a really friendly way. Um, I love the culture, I love the scenery, things like that. So sometimes I think Vietnam, I would say Lisbon, where I live, is up there with a favourite as well, but that's that's not so much for like exciting travel purposes. It's just a good balance to me of having this amazing community, like beautiful city, close to the water, things like that. Or maybe Turkey. I think Turkey is somewhere that long ago I did see myself maybe living, just because I love the food, I love the language, I love the culture. I've been lucky enough to see quite a bit of Turkey by now, and it's somewhere that when I haven't been there for a long time, I do really miss it. So the plan is to go back next year, maybe for a month or two.

Zoe Greenhalf: 21:34

Oh, that's lovely. And how like, how do you end up planning your travel into the year? So, I mean, are you at a stage now where you're looking at 2026 and trying to work out where you want to be, or do you not plan that far ahead and you just I don't know, see where the work is? How do how do you structure your life so that you get that balance between travelling and working and blending?

Georgie Darling: 21:59

Mine is actually very different to the norm for me for the year ahead. So I'm in the midst of applying for my Portuguese residency visa, and that actually means I'll be Portugal-based and unable to leave the country for the majority of next year, which is quite an intimidating thought as someone who's. Yeah, honestly, like it's it's strange to me. But all of my travels before this have usually been quite last minute in terms of how I structured them. Um, and I would say that's because my travels over the last few years have mostly been shaped by very last-minute decisions. So I first started traveling, or first started my, you know, five years of traveling when I moved to Indonesia just before the pandemic, and then got stuck on this tiny island called Gili Chiwangan for seven months, and then after that moved back to mainland Bali and ended up basing myself there for the next three years, but really used that as a chance to see as much of Southeast Asia as I could. And then when I left Bali, which was about two and a half years ago now, I was like trying to find a new base somewhere, but I didn't know what that new base was. So my plan then was just to explore as many places as I could, usually for about one month at a time, and see where I liked enough to move there next. And what actually happened, this was with my now ex-boyfriend. So we travelled around quite a few places, we saw a lot of Europe together, we then went over to Mexico, and then when we got to Mexico, he understandably decided that he was a bit travelled out and wanted to move back to London. I, in contrast, was like, hmm, I'm quite enjoying Latin America, and then spent the next year and a bit after that just traveling through Latin America with friends that I'd met along the way. So that was all very spontaneously planned. And my European adventures back before I moved to the other side of the world were also quite spontaneous. But now I do have to be a bit more strategic. So I'm in Mexico now because I wanted a month of sunshine before I go back to my first European winter of six years. Um I was in Egypt before this for a scuba diving trip, which was really, really fun. But next year, I think I have to stay in Portugal until next June. And then after that, I don't know where I'm gonna go, but I can tell you that I'm aiming to go to maybe three different places, like when I'm when I'm allowed to leave the country again.

Zoe Greenhalf: 24:14

That's exciting though, because you just don't know. You don't know.

Georgie Darling: 24:17

Yeah, I've always lived my life, especially from the last decade, I would say, around catalysts. So I always kind of wait for the decision to be made for me, or I wait for something to happen to point me in the direction of what I do next. And it's funny because I plan my day-to-day life meticulously, sometimes even down to the hour, but I plan my my year ahead, other than this exception because of the visa, very, very spontaneously. Yeah, that's quite a contrast. Yeah, yeah, it's like the immediate future to me is always very heavily scrutinized, and the the more long-term future is just always we'll we'll see what happens.

Zoe Greenhalf: 24:57

Yeah. Oh, I do like that though. I think sometimes we can we can get to in our own heads when it's you know, when you're told to kind of okay, where do where do you want to be in a year's time? What are your five-year goals? What are your 10-year goals? Um, yeah, I th I just think sometimes it's nice if you if you can have that mindset to know more or less where you might want to be, but also allow that flexibility to come in and the spontaneity.

Georgie Darling: 25:23

Yeah, I think going back to like how do I add mischief to my life and things like that, I think this is a prime example. I think I'm very fortunate I have a lot of privileges and also zero responsibilities other than keeping myself alive. And I think that really helps when it comes to deciding where I want to go and when I want to go. Like I've always kind of said in my business, I love that I could wake up tomorrow morning and fly to Japan if I wanted to. And I think keeping that as the primary goal, I would say, of building my business and what my business looks like, I think that allows me to have a lot more freedom in every other area of my life because I really keep the time, location, financial, emotional freedom at the core of everything that I do, I would say.

Zoe Greenhalf: 26:05

Yeah. Um, and I think one of the things that you know resonates so strongly is the sense of you know that that's your number one value. And so everything has been designed around that. It's not left to chance. It is very structured in that way, you know. Um, yeah, I think there's a lot to be said for people, you know, they'll they'll roll their eyes when they hear this, but knowing what their values are so that they can then design their their their life or their business around those values, and I'm sure you've done it.

Georgie Darling: 26:37

Yeah, I think squeezing as much out of life as I can has always been my biggest focus. Like, I don't ever want to look back on my life and think time is passing, and I haven't spent it well. It's my 30th birthday in January, and a lot of people have been like, Oh, how do you feel about turning 30? I feel great about turning 30. I've spent my my 20s travelling to six continents and doing everything I wanted to do. And yeah, I think if I can spend my 30s the way that I spent my 20s, then I will be overjoyed and feel incredibly lucky and grateful for this life. So that's always been my biggest focus.

Zoe Greenhalf: 27:12

Oh, that's such a lovely way of looking at it as well. I know so many people who would look at turning 30 and start worrying and feeling like their life is just not what they want it to be. But I think it's fantastic if you've been able to do that already in your 20s and know that you've got nothing to fear because, in any case, you're already doing what you want to do.

Georgie Darling: 27:32

Yeah, I feel very lucky. I've always had very supportive parents who have encouraged me, even if it means living on the other side of the planet for however many years, they've always been very supportive of that. I think I think everyone close to me in my life kind of trusts me to make the right decisions and look after myself. And it would be very kind of off-brand if I were to ring, I don't know, my mum, for example, in the middle of the night and say, I'm stranded in this place, I need money, I can't get home. And I think it's one of these things where they've trusted me, which I think has encouraged me and uh given me the confidence to make these decisions. And then when I've proved to them that I am safe, that I'm not, you know, in desperate need of rescuing, I think that kind of builds upon itself as well.

Zoe Greenhalf: 28:16

Yeah, because you're also proving to yourself, you know, it's it it builds it it compounds, doesn't it? The more you travel, the more you're actually showing yourself that you've got this.

Georgie Darling: 28:26

Definitely, yeah. And there have been stressful things in the travels over the years of like getting lost, and I don't know, various different examples to be fair. But I think even that is very useful because I think even in stressful situations, if you can prove to yourself you can get out of that stressful situation, you build so much confidence as well. And like, yeah, a lot of my travels were solo, to be fair. Even even nowadays, a lot of my travels are solo, and it's something I recommend everyone to do. I think solo traveling is one of the most empowering things, and it forces you into situations where you might feel a bit uncomfortable, but you're gonna meet people from all over the world, you're gonna make some incredible friends, you're gonna do the things that maybe do push you out of your comfort zone, and yeah, it's brilliant fun.

Zoe Greenhalf: 29:08

Yeah, I've had a couple of other women on here who've done solo travel and they both said exactly the same thing. They just couldn't recommend it highly enough. So if someone listening feels like they've lost their spark or their sense of adventure, what small but slightly rebellious shift could they make this week or this month, maybe to kind of help them feel a bit more than a little bit of a problem.

Georgie Darling: 29:29

I would start by making the time ideally to have a day of doing only the things that you want to do, which maybe sounds quite obvious. And obviously there are privileges and privileges involved here in terms of if you're responsible for other people and things like that. But I think sometimes we get really bogged down with obligations and expectations and things like that. And I think the more that those pile up, the harder it is to come back to yourself and to figure out actually what it is, what is it that you want. And I think if you can find that your day-to-day life is then getting bogged down by what other people want you to do and making sure you're in certain places at certain times and things like that, I think there's something incredibly freeing about even half a day if a full day is not possible, even if it's just a Saturday afternoon or something, but taking that day to yourself and even just sitting down on the sofa for half an hour and thinking, actually, what do I want to do now? Like, is there somewhere that I want to go for a really nice lunch by myself? Do I want to go for a nice walk somewhere? Like, do I want to drive across the city or hop on a train and go somewhere else for a bit? And I think giving yourself that time and that space to actually think about what is my priority right now? What is going to add a bit of fun to my day? What is something that's gonna claw some novelty back into a routine that's maybe lacking it a bit? And I think when you can start channeling that, I think it gives your brain like a free pass to start doing more of that. And if you can prove to yourself, like I took, you know, six hours, whatever it may be, to do the things that bring me lots of joy, your brain is gonna latch onto that and think, okay, great, how can we do more of this? What would it look like if I did this for, I don't know, half a day next week in terms of following my usual schedule for that? And I think the more that you can build upon that, it just becomes this like it grows and grows and grows. And I think that does really help to start small, but maybe build into something that's a lot more scalable long term.

Zoe Greenhalf: 31:18

Yeah, and it's funny that you mentioned that sense of obligation. Um, where where are some examples of where you've broken the rules um or maybe gone against people's expectations in order to have that life that you so I've been lucky because I don't feel like I've had a huge amount of expectations put upon me.

Georgie Darling: 31:42

I mean, I could say things like I have I have friends or I have ex-partners, parents who had expectations that by the time I was 29 that I would be engaged, I would maybe be married, I would maybe be children, have having children or expecting them, things like this. And I've never bothered myself too much with people's expectations of me for two reasons. I think from a business perspective, I would only really trust people's expectations if that's someone that I look up to in a professional sense. I think if someone has expectations for me and they are not in a position that I would like to be in, their expectations don't hugely matter because clearly we're on different paths. And I think expectations when it comes to, I guess, more of a personal life, it's something again that I know that I have, yeah, friends back home, let's say, who have multiple children and a mortgage and they're about to buy their second house and things like that. And I imagine that if ever they look at my Instagram or, you know, see me pop up on LinkedIn or something, I imagine they probably think, like, what is she doing with her life? Like, she's not doing any of the more conventional things. So I think there are a lot of expectations around. And I don't know, maybe if it's that I'm very fortunate in that they're not really put upon me, or if I just have kind of horse blinders on and I just don't ignore them, which is a very, a very lucky thing to be able to do, I think. Um, I think some people do definitely feel more restricted by obligations and expectations than I am, but maybe it's a personality thing.

Zoe Greenhalf: 33:14

Yeah. Um, what's the number one pattern that you that you see that stops people from claiming the life they say they want when you're coaching your clients? Is there something that nearly?

Georgie Darling: 33:26

Yeah, I think people talk themselves out of things very easily. And I once again very much include myself in this. I think when you are your own your own business owner, I think it's very easy to keep yourself in your comfort zone. Because most of us, I think we start our own businesses, but if they scale, it gets to a point where we feel very intimidated by what we've built. And I think both the blessing and the curse of being self-employed is that you are the one that can put yourself forward for as many pay rises and as many promotions and as many opportunities as you like, but equally you are the one who has to do that. And if you talk yourself out of raising your rates or pitching to a bigger, scary client or things like that, there's not going to be anyone behind you that's gonna encourage you to do that. And I think so many people get to this point where they reach what they see as, I guess, like the the upper limit in terms of what their comfort zone tells them that they can achieve. And if they don't have someone behind them to encourage them and say to them, what is the best case scenario from this? Like, let's not think about the worst case scenario, let's think about the best case scenario, then it can be very easy to reach that cap and just kind of accept that maybe this is it. And then I find that people often feel a bit frustrated, they maybe feel a bit disappointed because they've built this business and then they're like, okay, but it doesn't feel as good as I thought it would feel. Like I know that maybe I could do other things, but I don't know what those look like, or I don't know how I bring this to life. And yeah, I think I think the limiting beliefs is the main thing that people come up against in terms of telling themselves that they're not able to do more. And I did used to do it so much in my business as well. I would talk myself out of so many different things and I would put things off because I would be embarrassed of what other people thought of me doing it, or if I could do it right, or if I would mess it up and it would be embarrassing, and things like that. And eventually it got to the point where I was like, nothing in this business is life or death. Even if I mess it up, even if I do something really embarrassing, it's not the end of the world. People are just gonna, you know, watch it happen and then keep scrolling, continue with their days, and probably never think about it again. And I think adopting that kind of mindset and thinking, what is the best case scenario rather than what is the worst case scenario, I think that has made a huge difference to how I approach my business and the success that I've had in my business. And it's something that I always try and channel in the people that I work with as well.

Zoe Greenhalf: 35:44

Yeah. I think if anybody, you know, is inspired by the idea of travel writing and being able to have that life where they get to blend work with travelling, what do you think would be like a good first step into a career?

Georgie Darling: 36:00

A good first step, I would say, is to get very clear on exactly what that looks like to you, which is a tricky one because often these things do shift over time. But and as much as I say I'm not good at planning into the future, I do I do usually plan what I want the future to look like. I just don't kind of map it out in concrete, let's say. But for example, I like to do an exercise where I write a letter to myself of the current me and I write it from future me. And I will write it from maybe a year's time. There's this really good website, actually, it's like futureme.org, I think. And you actually write an email and then it sends you a copy on whichever date you pick in the future. And I do that every year on my birthday, but I also like to do it sporadically for my business as well. And that's really helpful because I think often people can say that they want something, but if they don't get clear on what that something is, then it just becomes a dream. It doesn't become a natural goal because you're not actually working towards it. And I think we we underestimate what we can do in a year, but we overestimate what we can do in a day or a week. And we tell ourselves sometimes that if we want this freedom lifestyle, then if we can't develop it in 30 days, then clearly it's not gonna happen. So I think regardless of if you're someone who plans things well into the future or plans things more in the way that I do, I guess, I think it's very helpful to write this letter to yourself because that's something easy you can do in like 30, 40 minutes today. And then I think when you're writing that, it's gonna really force you to think about what does freedom look like to you? Like, is it is it more time, is it more space, is it being able to go to different places? Is it having money in the bank so you can spend that money on hobbies or things like that? And I think when you've taken the space to think about what that looks like to you, that's when you can break it down into smaller steps. And I really love Chat GPT for this. Often when I've got this letter, I will share it with ChatGPT and I will say to it, This is my 12-month plan, and I would like you to break it down into monthly goals for me. And then when I've got those monthly goals, I would like you to break it down into weekly habits that I should implement. And you'll see how suddenly this thing that feels probably quite intimidating, probably quite far out of reach, suddenly becomes something that's just an extra 15-20 minutes that you do in the morning, and then suddenly you can see that that goal comes to life. So that's always the first thing I would recommend to people.

Zoe Greenhalf: 38:15

I love that. Such a juicy tip, as well, to upload the letter to Chat GPT and see what yeah, I love that. Um, Georgie, it's been lovely talking to you, um, even though you are looking at me from the Mexico. Um thank you so much for sharing, you know, your story and some amazing tips with people.

Georgie Darling: 38:40

Where can they find you on mostly on LinkedIn, whether I love it or hate it. And you can find me on LinkedIn by searching Georgie Balin. Um, my website is the freedomroot.com, and that is root spelt R-O-U-T-E. And I'm also on Instagram at the Freedom Root with an underscore at the bottom as well.

Zoe Greenhalf: 38:58

Amazing. Thank you so much, Georgie. That was a really lovely chat. Don't go anywhere. Here is your rebellious recap. Okay, number one, freedom can relate to time, money, location, and it's important to understand that obtaining one doesn't mean obtaining all of them. The perfect balance may be hard to achieve, but try to check in regularly with yourself, asking if this is the life or business that you wanted, and if not, how can you change things up? The key here is to get intentional. 2. It's very difficult to read the label when you're inside the jar. This is why working with a coach or an external person helps you to see things that you can't. 3. Creating freedom can often require adding more structure, which sounds counterintuitive, but creating yearly, quarterly, monthly, and weekly goals, planning your weeks even, can help you to focus on the important stuff so that your freedom doesn't get sucked away by other less important tasks. Four, trust your gut when it comes to working with the right clients. If on the first call it feels like a red flag, then they probably are a red flag. Number five, you don't need to be good at all parts of your business. Focus on the parts that you love and where your strengths are. The rest you can always outsource. Six, make it a regular habit to keep asking yourself, what would I like to do more of? Or what would I like to do less of? Because awareness is the first step in aligning yourself with the life that you're designing, not the one that you're living by default. Seven, when you know how you want to feel, you can start to plug the gaps in your day-to-day life by asking yourself, what else can I do so that more of my time can be spent feeling like this? Eight, there's nothing like traveling to build your confidence since you always have to figure things out and deal with the unexpected. 9. If you've lost your spark, the easiest way to get it back is to rediscover those things that light you up. Maybe the things that you used to enjoy as a child, but you have to schedule in the time to do them and to explore those things. And number 10, don't be scared to use tech to help you to achieve those goals. You could use a platform like futureme.org to send yourself an email and get really clear on the kind of life that you want to live. And then also use that same letter, plug it into AR, use Chat GPT to help you break down your bigger vision, your bigger goal into quarterly or monthly or even weekly goals so that you have a plan to work from. That's a wrap on another episode of the Mischief Movement Podcast. If today's content stirred something in you, let's keep in touch on Instagram or connect with me on LinkedIn. You can even click the link in the show notes to sign up to my Mischief Mail newsletter, where you'll get exclusive insights on upcoming episodes and your chance to submit questions to future guests. But shh, don't tell anyone, it's our secret. For more info on ways to work with me and some fun free resources, check out the website themischiefmovement.com. Until next time, stay bold, stay rebellious, and of course, keep making mischief.