When Stability Stopped Being Borrowed
I used to think stability meant staying.
Same city. Same desk. Same badge to swipe in.
Leaving felt reckless.
What surprised me wasn't the uncertainty. It was how much less afraid I felt once I knew I could earn anywhere.
Ten years in the same industry, seven at my last company. I knew what "stable" looked like: biweekly paycheck, health insurance, 401k match. The safety net everyone talked about.
Two years ago I left. Moved to Mexico City 18 months ago.
People ask: "Don't you miss the stability?"
Honest answer: I don't miss it because I didn't lose it. I just redefined what it means.
Why We Confuse Stability with Location
For ten years, stability meant:
Fixed address where paychecks arrived
Fixed desk where work happened
Fixed schedule that couldn't flex
That's not wrong. That's what we're taught. Your parents probably defined stability the same way—same job for 30 years, same house, retire with a pension.
It made sense for their generation. It made sense for mine too, until it didn't.
The confusion isn't about right or wrong. It's that we inherited one definition and assumed it was the only one.
What Remote Work Stability Actually Looks Like
Here's what I learned after 18 months of living and working from a different city:
Stability isn't the address. It's three things:
Income that repeats
Not lucky money. Not one-off projects. Something you can rely on month to month.
In practice, this usually comes from a mix: one primary income stream, one or two secondary ones. None of them tied to a single office or city.
Skills that transfer
Not company-specific knowledge. Skills that work anywhere.
The work I do now—product development, supplier coordination, customer communication, content creation—none of it depends on being in New York. The skills aren't tied to infrastructure I don't own.
Costs that adjust
My New York rent was $2,400. My Mexico City rent is $750. Same work, same income, completely different financial pressure.
That cost difference isn't just savings—it's breathing room. When your income stays stable but your costs drop by 60%, you're not less secure. You're more secure.
This is what traveling remote work actually means—not working from beaches, but building systems that aren't location-dependent.
Uncertainty Didn't Disappear—Fear Did
I still don't know what revenue will look like in three months. Problems still happen. Things still go wrong.
Uncertainty didn't go away.
But the fear did.
The difference:
Before: Uncertainty felt like falling. If the company laid me off, I'd have 3-6 months of savings, then… what? My skills were specific to that industry, that role, that company's systems.
Now: Uncertainty feels like weather. Income fluctuates, but I know I can adjust. I've solved problems in different situations now. If this city stopped working, I could move. Not easily, but possible.
The fear came from feeling trapped. Once you know you're not trapped, uncertainty becomes manageable.
Remote Work Isn't Less Stable—It's Differently Stable
Let's be honest: remote work comes with different risks than office work.
Office work risks: Layoffs, office politics, your role becoming obsolete, a company changing direction overnight.
Remote work risks: Income fluctuations, self-discipline, isolation, being responsible when something breaks.
Different risks. Not necessarily more.
The real question isn't "which is more stable?" It's which kind of instability you're built to live with.
I can handle adjusting plans—changing cities, routines, timelines. What I can't handle is having my life locked into a rhythm I no longer choose.
Some people are the opposite. They need predictable paychecks and hate uncertainty. That's not wrong. That's knowing yourself.
Realizing that Tuesday afternoon was mine to decide—not something I had to justify or schedule around meetings—that changed everything.
Remote work resources matter—tools, systems, backups. But the most important resource is understanding which kind of unstable you can tolerate.
Because both paths are unstable. Just in different ways.
Why Ability-Based Stability Works for Remote Work
Location-based stability: Your security depends on staying. If you leave, you start over.
Ability-based stability: Your security travels with you. If you leave, you continue.
I didn't understand the difference until I tested it.
The shift happens when you realize: the skills that keep you stable aren't tied to a building. They're portable. Repeatable. Independent.
That's not about being special. It's about building systems that work regardless of geography.
When Stability Stopped Being Borrowed
My boss gave me his old backpack when I quit. It lasted 8 months, then broke.
It broke on a regular Wednesday. I had my laptop, client emails to send, and nowhere to put things without worrying about rain. No IT desk to walk to. No office admin to ask for a loaner. Just me, trying to keep work going.
That was the first time I really felt it: for ten years, my stability had come from things I didn't actually control.
Company laptop. Office WiFi. IT department when something broke. Health insurance through HR. Payroll system that never failed.
All borrowed. All dependent on staying.
I'd confused "having access to infrastructure" with "having stability."
Once I left, I had to build my own infrastructure. Not just a new backpack—reliable income streams, my own systems, tools I could count on when no one else was maintaining them.
That shift—from depending on what a company provided to building what I could rely on myself—that's when stability stopped feeling like something I'd lose if I moved.
What that actually looks like in practice.
If You're Craving Stability, Ask This Instead
Don't ask: "Should I take the risk?"
Ask:
"If this city disappeared tomorrow, could I still work?"
If the answer is no, your stability is borrowed from geography. That's fine—just know it.
"Does my security come from my address or my abilities?"
Address-based security: comfortable until you want to leave.
Ability-based security: portable but requires confidence in yourself.
"If I had to move next month, would I feel afraid or just annoyed?"
Afraid = your stability is tied to staying.
Annoyed = your stability travels, it's just inconvenient.
There's no right answer. Just different kinds of stable.‘
Two Years In
Two years ago I left my office job. I turned down a promotion that would've kept me there another 5-7 years.
Some days I still think about that promotion. Not because I regret leaving—because the brain takes time to stop seeing "fixed" as "safe."
But here's what changed:
Before: Stable = same.
Now: Stable = capable.
The uncertainty is still here. Income still fluctuates. Problems still happen. I still don't know how long this will work.
But I'm not afraid of those things anymore.
Because stability isn't staying still. It's knowing you can move and keep going.
More on Redefining the Template
- My Twenties Went to Proving I'm Good Enough - What I was chasing
- Life Doesn't Wait for Weekends - Time freedom reality
- Digital Nomad Cost: NYC vs Mexico City - Financial stability shift
Stability isn't what stays the same. It's what you can count on—including yourself.
