Five minutes of “why not” can buy you five years of “why did I.”

The window where a bad idea looks fine is usually very short, and it closes on its own if nothing happens in it. What makes it dangerous is the mismatch in scale: a decision that takes almost no time can attach itself to years. Nothing warns you, because at the time it is small.

When something is quick, hard to undo and mostly driven by the moment, give it ten minutes of delay. Walk outside, get a drink of water, answer a text. The urge that survives ten minutes is usually worth acting on, and most do not survive.