Almost all the important decisions we make are based on fear. We don’t always admit it, but it’s there. Sometimes it’s the fear of losing, other times it’s the fear of staying stuck. We change jobs, leave relationships, move, or break routines when the fear of staying the same becomes greater than the fear of the unknown. We don’t decide because something is better, we decide because staying starts to hurt more than moving.

This isn’t necessarily bad. It’s a human way of measuring risk. The problem is that we often wait too long because we’re afraid to change. We think things could get worse, and that thought keeps us still. But when the discomfort becomes impossible to ignore, the fear of change feels easier to handle. And that’s when we finally make a move.