One of the most powerful things that came out of my work with career coach Kori Burkholder this past spring and summer (which I write about in Women in Time and Space) was a decision filter.

Whenever I’m about to make a decision that will impact my career, my life, or the lives of my family members, I ask myself this question: Will this give me (or us) more freedom or less?

The answer to this question makes most decisions pretty simple.

But getting to this question in the first place took work.

Kori’s coaching process involved me looking deeply at my whole life — from childhood to now — and it was through this that I realized I have been seeking freedom my whole life.

And that hasn’t changed. The pursuit of freedom still drives me today, and it probably always will. It’s a good decision-making filter for me because it gets to the core of who I am and what I want, and ensures I stay aligned and don’t go off-track and end up in a place where I’m miserable.

I was flipping through some of my notes this morning, though, and it dawned on me that it’s overly simplistic to say “I want more freedom” — because freedom means something different to everyone.

For some, freedom might mean financial freedom.

For others, freedom might mean being able to travel full-time.

For me, freedom means the power to change.

I’m never more anxious or unhappy as when I’m complacent. Maybe that’s why I’ve been able to pursue my career with such gusto — there’s never a “top of the mountain” for me. There’s always something else to aspire to. The Japanese concept of kaizen, perpetual improvement, is at the core of my being.

In his book Mastery, Robert Greene wrote, “Never get complacent. Cultivate dissatisfaction.” There’s power in that, I think, as long as it doesn’t result in sitting around, complaining about your circumstances instead of doing something to change them.

Machiavelli said: “Men desire novelty to such an extent that those who are doing well wish for a change as much as those who are doing badly.”

But change is still a big deal.

It can still be scary.

Complacency is easier.