The Golden Door Retirement and Living in Costa Rica

The term self-help (or self-improvement) refers to self-guided improvement[—economically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a substantial psychological basis. By all estimates the “self-improvement” market in the U.S. as worth more than $9 billion in 2006 — including infomercials, mail-order catalogs, holistic institutes, books, audio cassettes, motivation-speaker seminars, the personal coaching market, weight-loss and stress-management programs. All you have to do is wander into the local branch of your Barnes & Noble bookstore and look at the large number of books that are available in the self-help section. Obviously it is a popular subject.

Let’s face it. Everyone has some area in their lives which needs improvement. Whether it is doing exercise on a regular basis, improving one’s self-discipline or making money people want to improve some facet of their life.

As strange as it may seem moving to Costa Rica has helped 1000s of Americans improve their lives. Unplugging from their past and moving to a foreign country can make one feel rejuvenated and change your whole outlook on life. By living better with less as you can do in Costa Rica, people find their lives do change for the better. I have seen scores of people adopt a simpler and less complicated Latin lifestyle. You just get a sense by looking at many of the ex-pats here that they have experienced personal growth by immersing themselves in all that Costa Rica has to offer. You would probably have to live here for a while to understand what I mean, but the signs of renewed energy and vitality can be seen on most everyone’s face who makes the move.

However, I would be lying through my teeth if I said that everyone who moves here experiences personal growth. Too many people flee the States with a lot of  emotional baggage and expect things to  change automatically and with no effort. Everything good in life requires work and the same is true in Costa Rica. You get out of the country what you basically put into it. NO effort = no personal growth. A big effort can = a complete transformation.  I should know because moving here about 30 years ago to pursue my dreams which radically changed my life and helped me grow as a person and to find the happiness I was always been seeking.

This is one of the many subjects I discuss on my monthly relocation/retirement tours and when I give lectures about living in Costa Rica