How Knowing Our Company’s “Why” Is Helping Us Innovate During the Coronavirus Crisis.

By: Michael Youngblood, Co-founder, Unsettled. 

Unsettled has always been more than a travel company. 

Ever since starting Unsettled, we’ve asked, “Why does this company exist? Who do we seek to serve? How can we serve them in meaningful ways? How will we contribute to the world in a way we’ll be proud of in 50 years from today?” 

At the TED office in the spring of 2016, my co-founder and I worked with Simon Sinek to develop our “Why, How, What” principles. One of the first things we did was write our company’s Ikigai, which is the Japanese expression for your “reason for being”. As quickly as we developed our business model, we were fully developing Unsettled’s values and principles. 

Today, as the travel industry is experiencing turmoil unlike it’s seen in decades, this deeper line of inquiry just may save our company. When a truly foundational problem shakes our industry (and, hell, the world at large), we better be standing on solid ground. When uncertainty shatters the bedrock of an entire industry, as it has the travel industry, then we need more than ever the resolve, conviction, and foundational knowledge of why we exist. Indeed, it may be the only thing that helps us get through these dark days. So what is our foundation? 

Unsettled’s Ikigai 

Unsettled exists to guide people on a quest for growth, meaning, and adventure. We exist because the perspective one gains when we frame life as a series of questions is greater than arriving at answers. We believe that being a part of a strong, diverse community may be the best way to redefine how we live and work in a moment of incredible change and uncertainty. And we believe that experiences built on diverse, peer groups can be transformative. 

We travel because we move to be moved. 

This company was founded after we took a month-long retreat in Bali, and to this day, we are still amazed at how far one month can take your life when you are intentional, energetic, and you fully show up in 30 days.

That’s why as travel slows down in the midst of novel coronavirus, Unsettled will persist. We’re more than a travel company. We are a destination for anyone who wants to see how far one month can take you. For anyone who needs an intentional break, no matter where you are or if you can travel right now. For anyone who believes in the power of community, even or especially during darker days. These days will pass, and Unsettled will be stronger when we emerge from them. 

Knowing our “why” is allowing us to innovate. It’s what enabled us to launch our Lifestyle Incubator, our virtual retreat, a few months ago, and now, it has led us to our newest innovation, the Unsettled Global Mastermind Community.

The Unsettled Mastermind Community is an experiment in virtual community building. It is a 30-day experimental and fully online community that is for those who want to get serious about building a new kind of community. It’s going to bring connection back into your life during a historical moment of isolation. Opportunity in a moment of uncertainty. A structure that helps you keep your momentum in a time of quarantine.

Unsettled has been doing this for the last 4 years on our retreats. We were the original lifestyle brand for remote workers and independent creatives to travel for 30 days at a time. And we’ve taken more than 2,000 people on more than 100 retreats in 20 countries for the experience of a lifetime.

In the Unsettled Mastermind Community, participants will join a community made up of people from dozens of cities and countries around the world and a nearly infinite amount of professional and personal experiences. 

Unsettled will curate this community and map out the skills, networks, and assets that we hold among us. We will facilitate a framework based on co-creation, where everyone contributes. As a result, you’ll expand your perspective, grow your network globally, and be amazed at what happens when you set, share, and stay accountable to your goals month over month.

Each month will bring new themes and questions we will explore for 30 days at a time, but our methodology will stay the same. 

We will use these 30 days to learn how others are searching for new ways to live and work given what is possible today. We’ll tackle these topics each month with guest speakers ranging from building financial freedom to creating 30-day routines for our health. You’ll find accountability partners and have one-on-ones with people who you could never meet at home. In short, we will approach each month as if it’s the greatest experiment of our lives, and we’ll see what happens… 

You just might find your “why” and build a life deeply rooted in values and principles that are unshakable, even in the midst of great uncertainty. It’s exactly how we’ve done it. Join us at the Unsettled Global Mastermind Community today.