"I should just be grateful."

That's the sentence that keeps successful people stuck longer than any other.

Because gratitude and misalignment aren't opposites, they're just happening at the same time.

Good income. Nice house. All the security.

And a quiet, persistent hollow feeling you can't shake.

The guilt shows up twice: once for wanting more when you have so much, and again when you imagine leaving.

So you stay. You call it responsibility.

But the part we don't talk about enough is that misalignment is expensive too.

It costs you energy. Presence. The version of yourself your family actually gets to experience.

They notice the tight smile when someone asks, "How was work?"

They see the heaviness on Sunday nights.

Staying in work that empties you isn't just about enduring discomfort. It's about what you're modeling. That meaning is the price you pay for security…

The invisible trade-off isn't meaning or stability.

It's believing you have to choose without ever testing whether that's actually true.

What if the real risk isn't exploring what else might be possible?

What if it's never asking the question at all?