What Are You Waiting For?

Good morning! I hope your day is starting off well.

At lunchtime today, the week will be half-over. Funny how we measure time that way. As babies, our parents measured our age in weeks, and then months, all the way up to our second birthday. Then, when people would ask our age, our parents would look at them through weary eyes with the voice of a condemned prisoner and simply reply, “Two.” That pretty much says it all.

As kids, we made sure to add a little to our age every chance I got. “I’m six, going on seven!” “I’m seven and a half.” “I’m almost thirteen!” That last one was always a big deal, because you were no longer a kid, you were a full-blown teenager. But by the time you turned nineteen, the last thing you wanted was to be called a teenager. You were an adult and made sure the world knew it.

Well, after 61 (and a half) trips around the sun, I’m in no rush for the days to pass by. As a kid, every time I’d get excited about an upcoming birthday or wish I was a bit older, Mom would say, “You’re just wishing your life away.” I didn’t really understand what she was talking about at the time. But those words take on a whole new meaning now.

It’s usually the same about this time each week. Sure, I look forward to the weekend just like most other people. The week is half over! On the other hand, when it comes to my personal goals and the things I’d planned to accomplish before the weekend, the week is … well, half over. Time is running out, and if I don’t get busy, I’ll never get these things done.

I guess I’m like anybody else. I get up on Monday morning and think, “These are the things I need to do, and I’ve got a whole new week to get them done.” There’s no real pressure Monday, because there are still four days left in the week. Besides, Monday is all about getting through a tough day at work. And then Monday evening I’m busy. But Tuesday – that’s a good day to get started.

Well, you know how that goes. You get down to Thursday evening, with absolutely nothing accomplished, and your brain says, “Tomorrow is Friday – everybody will be thinking about the weekend and so will you. But next week, I’m getting this done!” Famous last words.

And I guess that would be okay, once in a while, but when it happens week after week after week, it starts to wear you down. After a while, you don’t face your goals for the week with quite as much gusto. You know what happened last week, and odds are the same thing will happen this week. Besides, what’s the rush? You’ve got the rest of your life to make this happen.

Before long, you’re not just going through the motions of setting goals, you stop setting them completely. Because you can’t fail at something if there was never any intent to do it in the first place. Right? I guess that works when we’re trying to justify the fact that our dreams are still just dreams, and we’re no closer to them than we were in the beginning.

But in the quiet moments of the day, when it’s just you and your thoughts and there’s nobody else around who’s gullible enough to believe the excuses, our brain isn’t quite so forgiving. Because we know how many times we had the opportunity to get started, to take that next step, to accomplish that next goal, and let the time slip by without lifting a finger. We only have ourselves to blame.

Only you know your innermost dreams, the things you hope to accomplish in life, and how soon you want that to happen. Maybe you’ve shared these goals with others, and I highly recommend that as long as it’s somebody who will hold you accountable. But for the most part, our dreams live within our own mind, and nobody but us knows if we’re any closer to making them come true.

If you know your conscience will beat you up for not doing anything toward your dreams, there’s only one way to fix that. Do something. Set a goal, make a plan, and get moving. Stop with the excuses. We’re all busy, and things come up every day to get in the way of our plans. Success comes to those who can work past these obstacles and find the time no matter what.

If there’s something you can be doing to get closer to your goal, don’t let one more minute slip by. The week will end, whether you’re ready for it or not. And think of how nice it would be to look back on a week of progress, knowing you’re that much closer to your goal. Another minute is beginning right now. What will you do with it?

That’s all for now. Have an awesome day!