Downshifting - Making The Right Decisions

There are so many things to think about and more importantly things that we have to 'get right' to  successfully downshift. 

We know that we must sort out future income, pensions, find the right area to live, the right schools, look for houses, sort out moving, learn about working for yourself, learn about small holdings - or whatever - but do we think about the emotional or intellectual issues?

• How many of us think about how a life-change will effect us - how it will effect our relationships
• Do we think about what sort of people we are and how we approach a working situation? 
• Are we the sort of people who will enjoy the stress of running our own business or will we want to go back to working for someone else? 
• Are we the sort of people who will enjoy retirement, or will it drive us mad?
• How important is security or do we enjoy taking a risk?
• How will we survive financially

It is not easy to answer these sorts of questions on our own but they are exactly the issues that are pivotal for ensuring that we downshift successfully.

Of course it is vital to move to the right area and start doing something that we enjoy.  Yes, we need to make sure that we will have enough money to live on - and to secure a good future for our families - BUT - It isn't often the location that makes us unhappy or the bank balance that will force us to change direction.  It is most likely due to the fact that we have not calculated the enormous impact that a life change can have or we have ended up in a situation to which we are not really suited.