Stop waiting for the right time and do this instead

When you’re in school there’s a time for everything. There’s class time, homework time, break time, lunch time. Beyond your day being scheduled, there’s a time to apply for university/graduate school, grants etc. For many of us over-educated professionals, we are used to being in school and being told when the “right time” for doing things were.

But as a real worlder- the truth is there’s no right time. Meaning there’s never going to feel like the right time to start your venture, to change careers or to set up that informational interview. It always feels like your life is too busy, or your ‘thing’ is not quite ready yet for the world to see.

Through school, we’re also taught that failure is terrible. Got a bad grade? You’re in trouble. Failed something? Well, you must not be smart. Other people found out? Oh the shame…  And while at times there are consequences to failing that are troublesome, the idea that failure is ONLY bad is preventing many of us from doing work that matters.

I’ve personally used “it’s not the right time” as a cover up to “I’m afraid of failing”. And for those of you who’ve done the same, perhaps it is time we reconsider our views of failure and timing. Rather than approaching failure like we were taught in school, instead we view it as another way of learning. Like Einstein said- we just figured out another way something didn’t work. This mentality will help us stop delaying and waiting for the right time and just say- the time is right now.

ps- For my marketing guru Seth Godin’s eloquent views on changing the way we feel about failure- read this post) – he says it way better than I can.