We’ve all heard the saying, “Don’t put off for tomorrow what you can do today”. As we enter into the New Year, this saying is something that has been on my mind.
I believe that it shouldn’t take a new year for you to create new habits. In fact, I typically start my “New Year Resolutions” in November or December! You can make a change at any time and there shouldn’t be a magical number that motivates you.
Why do we putting things off in the first place?
You don’t need to wait until 9:30 am to get out of bed if it is 9:28 am.
You don’t need to wait until January 1st to become the person you’ve been wanting to be.
And you don’t need to wait for an opportunity that you can create for yourself.
No matter how often we hear, “Don’t put off for tomorrow what you can do today”, it seems like putting things off is something that is second nature for a lot of people. I think that this is often rooted in a fear of the unknown. It is hard to take action on things when you don’t know that they will yield results.
You procrastinate on getting out of bed until the last minute because you know that you will still be able to get to work on time. Yet, when you start a new job, you likely leave a half hour early because you don’t know how your commute will go and you are afraid of being late.
We spend so much time researching side hustles because we know that they can be profitable. And then we put off starting them out of fear that we will not do a good job. It is quite ironic!
Don’t Wait for an Opportunity, Create It by Taking Action Now
I had been wanting to start this blog throughout all of college. In fact, I waited until I was two years into my working career to start. I thought no one would want to listen to me because of my age.
As someone who loves personal finance, I thought I had nothing to contribute because I had student loans. I was so very, very wrong.
One of my favorite YouTubers, Aja Dang, became popular in the personal finance community because she was trying to pay off over $200,000 in loans and had no idea where to start. By being vulnerable, she was able to connect with thousands of others who were also starting their personal finance journey.
I’ve watched other blogs, like Zach at Four Pillar Freedom, start at ground zero and work their way to a full-time online income. And during that time I was…. Just watching! After realizing I had seen so many success stories, I started to wonder, “What the hell am I waiting for?!”
There is never a right time or a perfect opportunity
When I was working my 9 to 5, I kept being told that a promotion was coming. It was delayed for over 6 months due to the “company’s needs come first”. I eventually got tired of waiting and started wondering, “What if I start my own business?”
You don’t need to wait for a promotion if you are the one running the company! And don’t most people spend a majority of their careers working their way up the corporate ladder anyway? It would be so fulfilling to work for myself, doing projects that I am passionate about… even if I might make less money for a while.
These thoughts kept ricocheting around in my head as I realized that any work I was doing to help the sales process at other organizations were skills that I could use to start my own business.
I stopped waiting for the opportunity and putting things off for tomorrow
Spontaneously, I quit my job to travel the world at 23 and used the time to start earning income online. Initially, I thought I was too young to have a real business. I figured I would just pick up some freelancing gigs. Once again, I was so very wrong! I wonder how much money was lost because I didn’t have the confidence to create my own journey.
Even once I started Rucker Sales Consulting, I was too timid to tell people about it for months. And once I did start talking about it, I would downplay how big of a deal it was because I was worried my company might fail and because I had a huge case of impostor syndrome.
Now, 6 months into running my profitable business, I realize how silly that was. I may only be 25 years old, but I am the CEO of my own company and it provides enough income for myself and an employee!
I am still learning from these mistakes, but the more I pay attention to how I talk about my goals the better I am at realizing opportunities and taking action. Don’t wait for opportunity, create it by having confidence in yourself.
Don’t Put Off For Tomorrow What You Can Do Today
Ultimately, the secret to creating your own opportunity boils down to the age-old heuristic: Don’t put off for tomorrow what you can do today.
Don’t wait to start a business, start it now.
Stop putting off traveling to new countries, visit them now.
Avoid procrasting on building multiple income streams, build them now.
Don’t wait to tell your story, write it now and add to it as you go!
Don’t Wait for Opportunity, Create It!
Tomorrow is never guaranteed and as you get older you tend to add on responsibilities. There is no better time than today to create the life that you want to live.
In the personal finance community, there is the saying, “Create the life you want to live and then save for it”. I love this because it is so action-oriented and pushes you to start finding ways to live the life you want now. There are so many great motivational quotes out there, simply find the one that speaks to you the most and look at it every day for inspiration.
If you wait until tomorrow, that day may never come because you have not cultivated the habits you need to live that life. So many people wait until they retire to live an active lifestyle of travel, but never realize their dream because they let their health decline over their working career to the point where they can no longer enjoy simple walks around a park.
There is no better time than the present to start any new endeavor. You may fail a bit along the way, but doesn’t that happen to all of us regardless of the life path we choose? Don’t make the mistake of choosing the path of least resistance, the road less traveled is often the most rewarding and fulfilling.
I wish you a happy and healthy 2021 filled with new opportunities that you’ve created for yourself!
Do you like the idea of “Don’t wait for opportunity, create it!”? Going into 2021, what opportunities will you be creating for yourself? What are you going to start doing today to help you get there?
Kathryn Rucker is a sales consultant and content writer. With 7+ years of sales experience, she is passionate about helping businesses and individuals grow their sales pipelines by improving their online presence.
She has been traveling full-time since 2018 thanks to the location and financial independence she has gained from her business, Kat Rucker Consulting Group. You can connect with her on LinkedIn.
Awesome post! I thought about this a lot in my mid-20s. One day, I woke up and realised that I’m already 25 and haven’t achieved some of the things I thought I would as a teenager. It seemed that if I didn’t get started now, I might never do them at all. Since then, I’ve been much more motivated to see things through and not lose my motivation halfway through a project.
One thing that definitely helps is starting small: write for 10 minutes only, but do it every day. Save $200, $100 or even $50, but do it every month. Exercise for 15 minutes, at least 3 times a week – consistently. The effects will soon compound.
I liked your post. People procrastinate because a task is either too hard or just not fun. But ultimately, only good things come for those who create their own opportunity.