I remember the first time I quit my job to take advantage of an opportunity that really appealed to me.

It was scary. People told me it was a bad idea, that I was crazy, and that they could never do something like that.

(That last part was sometimes said a bit wistfully.)

Privately, I wondered if I was stupid and irresponsible.

Going through with it anyway

I spent time going over the pros and cons, and the cons seemed to weigh pretty heavily.

After all, I was giving up a full time job (with benefits and a 100% 401k match, no less) to go work as an intern in a foreign country for a few months for very little pay.

But I went through with it anyway.

Moving past the second thoughts

When I arrived in Germany, I wondered what the heck I had done.

But I was there, so I literally shrugged my shoulders, said “Oh well, too late now!”, and got settled in.

The experience didn’t go perfectly. It was life-changing though. I got to see some cool places, do some fun things, and learn about myself in the process.

When I got back, my old job wasn’t available. A similar one did become available pretty quickly, but things could have gone differently. It could have taken a long time for me to have found a new job, and I could have spent the time afterward telling myself I was stupid.

Lessons learned

But you know what, it’s NOT stupid to do the things that are important to you.

What probably IS stupid is to do those things without a plan A and a plan B, OR to spend your life being miserable when you have a dream that you’d rather be following.

Often, the thing that prevents us from following our dreams is money. (Or so it seems.)

In reality, that thing is more often fear.

So plan, think the worst case scenario through, and then take a leap of faith. I’ve never heard anyone say they regret it.

What do you think? Have you ever taken a leap of faith? How did it turn out for you?