Waiting for the perfect time?

Are you the kind of person who waits around for the perfect time to get things done?

Recently, I sat in an airport, two hours before a flight to Florida, and decided to haul out my laptop and get some work done. I was already waiting at the gate for them to call for pre-boarding, typing away at one of those high top tables.

Are you paying attention to what’s happening around you?

But something felt off.

They were boarding late – which was no surprise… The sign at the counter said Fort Lauderdale – and that’s where I was flying into. The shared gate was boarding a group headed to Philadelphia.

I checked the time. We were supposed to start boarding at 10:05, and it was now 10:23. I took a quick look at my app to see how long the delay was going to be.

I wasn’t aware that they had changed the gate.

My flight was scheduled to depart at 10:35. I was at the wrong gate.

In my haste, the last thing I considered was telling someone at the gate. I grabbed my suitcase and my laptop bag and started to run as fast as I could. The gate I needed to be at was at the other end of a completely different hallway. I had been to that gate once before, and they had refused to let me board my connection because they had finished boarding…

I could NOT miss my flight this time.

So, I ran until I had pain in my lower back and I was completely out of breath. As I rushed up to the desk, the airline attendant looked at me with shock on her face. She said,

“Are you on this flight?”

Gasping, I handed her my boarding pass and my identification. She reassured me, “Don’t worry, we haven’t given your seat away.”

I didn’t need to wait for too long. Luckily, I was able to board my flight with less than minutes to spare and be safely on my way.

It got me to thinking about other people who are waiting…

Waiting for the perfect time to write, the perfect time to market, the perfect time to launch a new product or service – and the paralysis that often happens while you wait.

When you allow inertia to take over, and you use waiting to procrastinate and stall on what you really want, you’re undermining your true potential likely due to fear of failure.

Stop waiting for the perfect time

Here are four things you can do right now to shift yourself from waiting to doing:

1. Often, waiting is caused by indecision or uncertainty on what the first step should be.  Take whatever it is you are waiting to do, and break it down into smaller tasks. Pick one thing a day or each week you can do to move forward.
2. Start for five minutes and see where it goes. The very act of starting will allow you to build up some momentum and fuel you into continuing to move forward.
3. Reflect on what you’re really avoiding. Are you waiting because you’re stuck in perfectionism? Or are you tripped on something because you don’t know how to do it? Sit with a pen and journal and ask yourself why you are waiting. Then, once you have clarity, seek someone out who can help you start.
4. Hire help or ditch the idea. If you’ve been sitting on this idea for months or years, make a decision. Waiting on great ideas creates heavy energy inside of you. It can create the feeling that it is too late to start, even though, you’re still dancing with the idea. It is never too late to act on an idea. Your best ideas may be crowded and have competition… Don’t let the fact that someone else has done it – offering what you want to offer – stop you.

About Self-Talk

Your brain is powerful, and so is your self-talk. If your self-talk is telling you all the things that can go wrong, and all the reasons why you should wait – consider this: your brain might be giving you the wrong information.

My boarding pass said I was at the right gate. So did the sign at the counter. But I wasn’t. If I had chosen to wait and see what happened, I would have missed my flight.

Let that be a metaphor for you to start, right now.

What are you waiting for that you need to start putting into action?