time’s paradox, pt. 2
James Clear said,
"Don't rush, but don't wait.
Act with urgency, but release yourself from the need to achieve it on a particular timeline. When you think longer term than most, you can think bigger than most.
If it takes years, start now."
This quote reminds me of time’s paradox.
If something seems challenging, why not rise to the challenge?
Would you rather be someone who puts things off “for later,” or someone who just gets started?
Do you want to develop the habit of digging in, getting curious, learning, and applying what you’ve learned, through action?
Really, we can only learn best through true experience.
We think we need to take more time to prepare, to be sure we’re ready, to get everything perfect, to mitigate all risk…
But it’s impossible.
Risk is an inherent part of the deal.
To be alive is to face risk.
To love is to INVITE risk.
To pursue a dream and chase the truest, most beautiful life you can imagine for yourself (a Glennon concept) is to embrace risk with the understanding that it’s the only pathway to what you really want.
Risk is the doorway to authenticity, to success, to joy, to deep belonging, to honesty and everything you’ve ever wished for.
When there’s something worth fighting for, there’s more to lose.
Would you rather be a person with nothing to lose, a person unwilling to risk anything?
Would you rather live in denial of the risks in your life or refuse to move forward in the face of them?
I don’t know about you, but I do not want to be someone stalled into inaction, passivity, or mediocrity because of anxiety over risks or imperfection or not enough time.
Just get started.
It’s impractical to sit around trying to learn and prepare and map out the risks forever.
Parents like to tell other non-parents who are thinking of having kids that there will never be a time when they’re really completely ready; parenthood is a life-altering, huge, brand new thing, so how could you be ready for it when you’ve never experienced it and have no idea what it will really be like?
Prepare, within reason, as much as you can. Lay the groundwork. Show up. Do your part. Do your best.
And then leap.
That is also your part. Putting the prep into action is your job.
Do not let the fear that you can never be fully ready stop you from trying when the time is right.
We learn as we go.
Experience is the best teacher.
Wherever you are in the timeline of your life, no need to get impatient. You don’t have to rush and cram every experience into your life as fast as possible, with a scarcity fear that you’re falling behind or running out of time.
And if the opposite plagues you — this fear to even start because it will take too long, you don’t have what it takes, you aren’t ready, the project is too massive and intimidating, or the risks are holding you hostage — remember James Clear’s advice.
“Don’t rush, but don’t wait.”
“If it takes years, start now.”
“When you think longer term than most, you can think bigger than most.”
You can achieve more, too. You can meet and realize your wildest dreams.
Just get started.
