Act While You Still Have Time (Stop Waiting For a Perfect Time)

There is actually a perfect time to take action.

That perfect time is NOW!

The right time is right now!

“Action expresses priorities,” says Mahatma Gandhi

There is never a perfect time for you to launch that project, to write a book, change your habit, or embrace a new habit. There is no ideal time to do anything you care about. So do it now.

Many people have lots of goals, but little motivation to get started.

It’s easy to come up with excuses and justify not getting started. The longer you fill your head with rationalizations and empty excuses, the less time you have to take action.

And it’s easy to say, “I will start when I have more experience, money, time and resources”. By this time next year, you will have a lot more excuses.

It’s a cycle.

And once you get caught in the loop, it, can be difficult to break free and do something meaningful you care about.

Don’t let yourself off the hook with excuses.

Jordan Belfort says, “The only thing standing between you and your goal is the bullshit story you keep telling yourself as to why you can’t achieve it.”

Once you acknowledge this, you will embrace the action habit and you will do everything in your power everyday to get closer to your goals or dreams.

Napoleon Hill once said, “Do not wait: the time will never be ‘just right’. Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command and better tools will be found as you go along.”

Many people are living their entire lives without ever standing up and stepping out. But it’s exciting to witness the rare few who dare themselves and step out of their personal bubbles to make a change.

Most of use live with the stubborn illusion that we will always have tomorrow to do today’s work. We consistently hold on to this belief and keep procrastinating until work becomes a heavy burden.

Left unchecked, we always default toward a more comfortable path. Your comfortable zone provides a state of mental security. You can understand why it’s so hard to kick your brain out of your comfort zone.

To get started, don’t think too far into the future

The biggest hurdle for many of us is simply getting started. Making that important decision to take a step. You can be as big and successful as you can possibly imagine if you build that mindset you need to step outside the safe zone.

You have everything you need to make an impact in the world if you can get past the excuses. You don’t even have to start a new project. What you need is something you can emotionally and deeply connect with.

Don’t think too far into the future. Use what you have right now at where you are and witness the magic of creative work. If you’re thinking about it too much, chances are you’re killing it.

Keep it simple. The more complicated our plans are, the less likely we are to execute our ideas.

“There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long range risks of comfortable inaction.” — John F. Kennedy

Don’t do nothing just because you don’t know where to get started.

Build momentum by making small changes and go from there. Just do something!

It pays to be an outlier!

Outliers are those who seize opportunities and run with them. People who realize how little time they have and are driven to make the absolute most of it. Those are the ones who really live.

Malcom Gladwell argues that “Outliers are those who have been given opportunities — and who have had the strength and presence of mind to seize them.”

Studies consistently show that when we look back on our lives the most common regrets are not the risks we took, but the ones we didn’t. Of the many regrets people describe, regrets of inaction outnumber those of action by nearly two to one.

Some of the most common include not being more assertive, and failing to seize the moment. When people reflect later in life, it is the things they did not do that generate the greatest despair. You can seize the moment today!

Get started now!

“It is better to live your own destiny imperfectly than to live an imitation of somebody else’s life with perfection.” ― Anonymous, The Bhagavad Gita

You don’t have to get it right, you just have to get it going. Stop listening to the voice inside your head that prevents you from getting anything done; from doing the work you need to do.

Steven Pressfied said in The War of Arts, “Remember one rule of thumb: the more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it.”

No matter who you are or what you dream of becoming, remember this: No one ever came to this planet to take a back seat, play second fiddle or make it small.

Stop questioning yourself. Stop listening to everyone else. The world is waiting for you to start something.

Waiting to hear what you have to say. Waiting to use your creative product or service. Waiting to share your ideas and original work.

Remember the dream you were too scared to chase? It’s still not too late to give it a try. We tend to think that we’re not good enough, and give up before we even start.

The fear of taking risks never goes away but it does become familiar.

The self-criticism and self-doubt will always be present, and the only solution is to just act in spite of them.

Your first ebook, article, song, podcast, freelancer work or creative work never will not be satisfying and perfect, and it’s okay.

When we express ourselves in a way that brings out the best in us, we’ve already succeeded. Step by step we improve despite the temporary failures. That’s what matters. It matters that you persist.

Mark Victor Hansen writes, “Don’t wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now.

With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful.”

Take advantage of the enormous opportunities the information age presents. You have everything you need to go make something meaningful. Something you deeply care about. You don’t have to be right when you start. But it matters that you begin now.

Stop waiting for the planets to align. Stop waiting for life to slow down.
Stop waiting for the perfect time. Infuse your life with action. Don’t wait for it to happen. Make it happen. Make your own future. Make your own hope.