There will never be a perfect time

The more you snooze in the morning, the more you’ll want to snooze. The more you procrastinate, the more you will procrastinate. The less you feel like it and do nothing, the less you’ll feel like it and do nothing. I’ve discovered that the way to beat inaction is by taking action. And the best way to remain a slave to instant gratification is by continuous indulgence in instantly gratifying traps. So, by this logic (and assuming that these are things you do like and want to do more of), the more you exercise, the more you’ll exercise. The more you read, the more you’ll read. The more you write, the more you’ll write. The more you practice guitar, the more you’ll practice guitar. The more you create, the more you’ll want to create.

You want to do all these things but it’s so hard to get around to do them, so you understandably push them into an uncertain but hopeful future in which your future self has somehow pulled it off and is living the life you’ve always wanted. Your future self has figured it out and has time for it all: wake up early, exercise, practice yoga, meditation, write, read, study, practice a musical instrument, healthy eating, etcetera. On top of all these things, your future self goes to work, has time for friends and family, and goes to bed at 10:00 PM tops. But then, you come back to reality, look around and think,

One day I’ll get around to finally working on that. Once X happens, and Y is over, then I’ll finally be able to do what I really want. Live the life I truly want to live. This? This is just the prelude. The good part is yet to come. Someday…

Many of us have this fantasy in which one day conditions will be ideal and we’ll be able to finally follow through; once things are “right”, then we’ll have permission to do what we want and stop postponing the life we truly want to live. But let me tell you that after taking a step back and being mindblown at how fast the years are passing by and how much I’ve postponed the life I want to live, I’ve realized that it’s not when the economy is “better” that I’ll be able to start a business, or when the weather is nicer that I’ll be able to go for a run, or when I have better gear that I’ll be able to record and make music or whatever. No. The only permission I’ve been waiting for is my own. But of course, that’s unpleasant to hear; it’s easier to point fingers and blame people and/or circumstances.

I can’t be exercising now. It’s Christmas season! The family’s coming over, there’s gonna be lots of gatherings and a lot of food and cozy drinks. It’s just not a good time. I’ll start fresh in January when things are less hectic.

But then January comes around with its own set of circumstances and inconveniences, and you find yourself postponing your ideal self once more. Before you know it, months have become years, and that’s turned into regret and resentment.

At this point, I think everyone’s watched a YouTube video or something about old people talking about their regrets that it’s become almost a cliche: What people regret most at the end of their lives isn’t the things they did do, but the things they didn’t do that would have contributed to reaching their ideal. It’s the risks they didn’t take that trouble the elderly the most. So, the obvious point here is that things don’t have to be perfect for you to start. In fact, they will never, ever, be perfect because even if you had a genie in the bottle to wish for the absolutely perfect conditions, even then you would somehow make sure to discover something else that makes even the perfect conditions imperfect and say,

— Oh, wait! The perfect conditions aren’t actually perfect because now in this perfect scenario, there’s something else that kinda sucks. So, hey genie I have another wish right?

— Oh, why yes indeed, you do have two more wishes, so wish away human!

— I wished to have all the best gym equipment and gear and an eternally free membership to the best gym in town, but now that all of this is real, I’ve realized I need a gym buddy for accountability! So, I wish for the best gym buddy you have!

-Genie spawns David Goggins-

— Oh, crap. Wait, my gym buddy is a psychopath! Can I just wish for the best home gym?

-Genie spawns the best home gym ever-

— Wait, I actually have to use all these machines now? But how? Can I wish for a personal instructor?

— Woah hey bud, you’re all out of wishes. Just freakin’ figure it out for yourself. Want me to work out for you and transfer the gains into your muscles somehow? Geez…

Yeah, geez man! There will be no better moment to start than the moment you actually start. So just start, learn to enjoy the suck, think about the process as the reward, not the product, and watch how things start falling into place.