Permission granted to change...NYTimes, 8/31/16

My family’s choice aligns with a simple theory of the economist and co-author of “Freakonomics” Steven D. Levitt: People who aren’t sure about uprooting their lives probably should. “As a basic rule of thumb, people are too cautious when it comes to making a change,” he told a reporter for The Atlantic.

Knowing this, you would think that my own life-changing move to New Zealand would become much easier. But it hasn’t. And the reason, more than anything else, is the voice inside my head that keeps screaming at me. “People just don’t do this sort of thing,” it yells. “Name one person you know that’s done this,” it demands.  What the little voice is doing is something that I bet many people can relate to.

He’s looking for permission. My biggest fears right now are not dealing with the bureaucratic nightmares of moving to a new country, though there are plenty of those.  

Instead, my big concern has to do with what right I have to do this thing I’ve always wanted to do. Seeking approval and external validation is part of the human experience, but when it comes to making a big life change, they can be hard to find. People expect you to stay how you are, to maintain the status quo, to stay the course. And if you get bogged down looking for that affirmation to make a change, you may never make it.