Adapt to move forward - my story on start allover twice

Hi, my name is Daniel.

I grew up in a small town near Bergamo, in the north of Italy. When I was 27 due to the lousy economy, I saw my salary decreased, they cut my bonuses, which I was relying on those to pay my car insurance.
Was at that point when something in my head clicked. I realized that unless I were making significant changes in my life, I would never be able to buy my dream car. I’ve always been a car enthusiast.
I then decided to quit my “secure job” and move overseas.

Since then, I lived in New Zealand and Canada. I learned a language, new skills, and re-invented myself many times, failure after failure.

Being an immigrant on a work permit, I had to learn very quickly that I can only rely on myself; that’s the power of immigrants, we adapt to survive.

I’m now re-inventing myself once again because of the COVID-19.
Times are changing, and we need to change with it.

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My idea when I left Italy was to learn English as soon as possible, get the certificates I needed and then find a job in Silicon Valley. I got the certificate I wanted within a year, but I changed my mind about moving to the US. I fell in love with New Zealand, and there was no other place where I wanted to be.

Fast forward two years, I applied for a permanent residency, and it was rejected. I felt unwelcome, and the ground under my feet started feeling unstable. I was building a life where I could have been kicked out at the end of my visa. I then decided to take control of the wheel. I decided to start my own business. I knew that I could be pretty good at something if I am passionate about it, and I was tired of working very well and not being recognized.
Also, being able to work at any time, anywhere, was my golden ticket to see my family more often and do epic mountain biking and snowboarding.
I started waking up early and go to bed late, working on my side hustle while working full time. I got to the point where I was waking up at 2 AM, working until 7 AM, and then go to my full-time job. I was at the happiest point in my life.

My life started feeling “too comfortable,” I had a full-time job that paid the bills, I had time to work on my side hustle, I didn’t feel pushed. When I left Italy and moved to New Zealand with no English, no place to go, no one to rely on, I gave my 100%. In a short time I managed to get a sponsor and get a work permit, I was able to speak better English than people who were living there for much longer, and I got the certificates I wanted to acquire. It wasn’t easy, but I had no choice but keep moving forward, going back home living with my mum in Italy wasn’t an option. My only option was to succeed.

I decided to start all over and pushing myself again, so I moved to Canada.
I had six months to find a job and sponsor to be able to stay before my visa ran out. I then learned new skills, a new job, and managed to get a sponsor one month before my visa expired. It took four months after that to get my work permit and be able to go back to work. The process was way more stressful than I  expected, but thanks to my amazing bosses and my lovely girlfriend at that time, I managed to get it.
I’ve now been living in Canada for almost two years.

Now because of the COVID-19 I had to be laid off, and I don’t know if I will still have a job after all this would be over. Being on a work permit means I can only stay in the country as long as I work for that company. Losing my job means leaving the country. I really don’t want to go back to living in Italy.

Being in a lockdown at home gives me the chance to double down on my side hustles. Since the beginning of this pandemic, I started a podcast *** and a blog *** trying to help emigrants like me going through these hard times. I believe that emigrants have an advantage here. Most of us started from the very bottom, and we know what means do the *** job to pay the bills. It is times like this where we need to adapt, and we know how to do that.

So far, my journey has been fantastic, full of obstacles for sure, but getting over those obstacles gave me more confidence to achieve greater goals. To this day, leaving Italy is the best decision I ever made.