NOW is The Time to Start: Why Waiting Until You’re Ready Never Works
NOW is The Time to Start: Why Waiting Until You're Ready Never Works
Have you ever found yourself saying, "I'll start when I'm ready"? Maybe it's that business idea you've been nurturing, the fitness journey you've been planning, or the creative project you've been envisioning. But the hard truth? If you're waiting for that perfect moment to start, you might be waiting forever - because intentional living, building an on-purpose life that you love - begins with taking action, not endless preparation (this is a trap!).
When Preparation Becomes Procrastination
There's a teensy tiny, almost-imperceptible line between necessary preparation and hidden procrastination. Genuine preparation has clear endpoints, directly contributes to forward movement, and addresses actual skill gaps. Genuine preparation is meant to move you towards the launch of a project, and as such is purposeful, time-bound, and energizing.
Procrastination disguised as preparation looks very different. It features constantly shifting goalposts ("I just need to learn one more thing!"), focuses on minute details rather than core actions, and lacks defined completion criteria - so basically, it never has an end point, where the action then begins. This type of "preparation" often drains your energy rather than building momentum, and saps the precious energy needed to actually DO THE THING YOU ARE SUPPOSEDLY PREPPING FOR.
Why do we do this? How do we know if we are doing this?
Ask yourself: "Is what I'm doing bringing me closer to my first real step, or am I using preparation as a shield against potential failure?"
The most telling difference is emotional. Preparation feels productive and hopeful; procrastination disguised as preparation feels like relief from anxiety. When you're genuinely preparing, you're excited to get started. When you're procrastinating, it’s more like… being relieved to have postponed the starting line.
The Moving Target of "Feeling Ready"
"I'll start when I feel ready" might be one of the most self-defeating phrases in the entire pursuit of intentional living. Here's why: readiness is largely a construct of our imagination. It's a feeling, not a concrete state of being.
Another uncomfortable truth: readiness is a moving target. As you learn more, your awareness of what you don't know expands. This creates a paradox where the more you prepare, the less ready you might feel, because your perception of the task's complexity has grown.
Research in cognitive psychology suggests that our brains are wired to overestimate the preparation needed for uncertain activities. We create elaborate prerequisites as a form of risk management—but these prerequisites often reflect our anxieties rather than actual requirements.
The most successful people understand that readiness is largely myth. As author and entrepreneur Marie Forleo famously said, "Clarity comes from engagement, not thought." The feeling of readiness follows action; it rarely precedes it.
The Motivation Myth: Action Creates Motivation
We've been taught that motivation leads to action, but the relationship actually works in reverse. Motivation doesn't create action—action creates motivation.
This counterintuitive truth has been confirmed by research in behavioral psychology. When we take even small actions toward a goal, our brains register progress. This progress, however minimal, triggers the release of dopamine, which enhances our sense of reward and reinforces our desire to continue.
This is why the hardest part of any endeavor is often the first step. Once you've started, momentum begins to build. The initial resistance gives way to flow as small wins accumulate and motivation grows organically from your engagement with the work.
Intentional living isn't about waiting for inspiration to strike. Intentional living is creating conditions where motivation emerges naturally from consistent action that is aligned with our values, desires, and dreams, while putting us closer to feeling fulfilled, happy, and contributing to the betterment of our planet, communities, and/or others. The most motivated people aren't those with exceptional willpower—they're those who have designed their lives to make intentional action their default mode of being.
The Compound Effect of Imperfect Action
When we delay starting until conditions are perfect, we miss out on the most powerful force in personal development: the compound effect of consistent, imperfect action.
Consider two people with the same goal. Person A spends six months preparing to start "the right way." Person B begins immediately with imperfect action, learning and adjusting along the way. After six months, Person B has accumulated invaluable practical experience, worked through initial mistakes, and established momentum—while Person A is just beginning the real journey.
This compound effect works because:
Skills develop through practice, not theory: The neural pathways that build expertise form through repetition and application, not conceptual understanding alone.
Feedback loops accelerate learning: Real-world action generates immediate feedback that theoretical preparation cannot provide.
Adaptation comes from exposure: The ability to navigate challenges improves only when you've faced and overcome similar obstacles.
Identity shifts through behavior: You become by doing. When you regularly take action aligned with your desired identity, your self-concept changes and develops and before you know it, you wake up and look in the mirror, and everything feels right. You’re happy. You love yourself. You love your life. There is a moment, finally, where you experience the peace of contentment.
The most powerful aspect of the compound effect is that the gap between the person who starts now and the person who waits grows exponentially over time, not linearly. Every day of action builds not just skills but also confidence, intuition, and opportunity—none of which can be acquired through preparation alone.
Strategies for Embracing Discomfort and Taking Action
The discomfort of beginning is universal - we all experience it. What separates those who make progress from those who remain stuck is not the absence of fear, but the willingness to act despite it. Here are practical strategies for managing this “First Step” discomfort:
1. Implement the Five-Minute Rule
Commit to just five minutes of work on your goal. This tiny commitment bypasses the brain's resistance mechanisms. Once started, the continuation principle often kicks in, and you'll find yourself working well beyond the initial five minutes. This is how I’ve managed to create this blog. I promised myself I would write every single day - but that promise didn’t entail perfectly polished articles. I promised myself everyday… but gave myself permission to make it only (and at least!) 5 minutes, if that’s all I had. That promise has grown… and I’m so glad I didn’t wait until I had perfectly polished ideas to write down.
2. Lower the Stakes Through ReFraming
Rather than seeing your humble first attempts as a statement of your ability (because this can often be a mindfuck and a way to shred your self-confidence), reframe them as experiments or drafts. I personally love the experiment approach, since as an Environmental Scientist, designing experiments is fun for me. Allowing yourself a perspective shift removes the pressure you might put on yourself that it needs to be perfect right out of the gate, and creates psychological safety for taking those imperfect baby steps toward your dreams.
3. Create Accountability Structures
It can be true that external accountability dramatically increases follow-through. This one is effective in the right community, and I emphasize that you exercise caution when you are choosing your audience. That said, here’s how to do it: join communities of like-minded individuals (think Facebook groups, local writing workshops or art workshops… not a paint and sip!), or work with a coach or mentor who will hold you to your commitments.
4. Practice Productive Imperfection
Maximize the momentum created by the dopamine hits of GETTING SHIT DONE. Deliberately release work that you think or know could be better. This isn't about lowering your standards, but recognizing that consistent action towards your intended life is more valuable than waiting for the perfect version. Each imperfect action is a stepping stone to improvement. In other words, DONE IS BETTER THAN PERFECT.
5. Focus on Process Goals Rather Than Outcome Goals
Instead of fixating on results, commit to consistent action. Success becomes measured by your adherence to the process rather than the immediate quality of outcomes. As Seth Godin writes in The Practice: Shipping Creative Work, “The practice has nothing at all to do with being sure the work is going to be successful. That’s a trap.” The joy is in the journey, as they say. Enjoy the process. Let the process be enough.
The Only Real Preparation is Action
Intentional living isn't about perfect planning—it's about purposeful action. I don’t mean the quality of being alive, but living - the active practice of doing things that make you feel vibrant and fulfilled, and that contribute to your quality of life and to the lives of others. The greatest preparation for the life you want is to live it, however imperfectly. Your future self won't thank you for the time you spent getting ready; they'll thank you for the time you spent moving forward.
The truth isn't that you need more preparation—it's that you need to start now, with whatever resources and knowledge you currently possess. The path will reveal itself as you go, step by step.
So ask yourself: What goal, what aspect of your dream life have you been preparing for rather than pursuing? What action could you take today, however small, to cross the threshold from intention to implementation?
Now is the time. Not when you're “ready”—but now, and especially because you're not.
