Stop waiting. Whatever the reason is, stop waiting and just go. Take your shot.

Many of us wait to act. We wait because we need to do more research. We wait for the best time. We wait because it’s not perfect. We wait until we’re motivated. We wait because there’s always tomorrow.

When we’re stuck in a rut, waiting is another form of procrastination. The waiting game is the opposite of taking your shot. If you wait for the perfect moment, you’ll be waiting forever. The longer you wait, the less you receive opportunities. Not many people get what they deserve, win, get rich, or finish anything by playing the waiting game. The longer you wait, the less likely you are to achieve what you’re trying to do.

You may feel that waiting is the right thing to do. You want to wait to write your first article because you have to do more research and make sure it’s the best thing you can produce. You wait to release your product because you can add one more detail before it goes public. You wait to send the report because you can add more information. You wait to study because it’s late and you can start tomorrow when you’re more focused. You wait to start learning an instrument because it’s not important right now. You wait to invest in the market because it’s not the perfect time. You wait, you wait, you wait.

Sometimes waiting is good and can work out in your favor. However, I believe when waiting plays out well, it’s only in the short term. In a long term view, waiting doesn’t do many favors. The reason why is because the more you wait, the less you learn. The less shots you take, the less feedback you get. The faster you take shots, the more feedback you receive. Life is all about the lessons from feedback. A life without lessons is going to be pretty dull. Sure, it’ll be safe, but is sitting on the bench waiting your entire life the way you want to live? Will that really be a life lived on purpose?

Personally, my waiting is due to overthinking. I believe overthinking stems from being afraid of what others will think. I’m afraid to take actions that might make me look stupid, silly, or annoying, so I overthink and constantly second guess. Waiting and overthinking leads to indecisions and being stuck in a rut. The one for sure way to get out seems to be to just go.

Stop waiting. If you’re waiting because you’re afraid, the only way to get over that fear is to face it. If you’re waiting because you don’t know, the fastest way to learn is to just do. If you’re waiting because it’s not perfect… well, hate to break this to you, but it will never be perfect. But you can improve on it, but only if you take your shot first and learn from it.

My writing game has been the one thing I no longer wait for. I know that my writing is far from perfect. When I read some of my articles, I cringe and don’t even want to post it. But where’s the lesson in that? How will I even know if I truly like writing if I don’t give it a shot?

Writing has been my one outlet to get myself out of my rut. I waited for a long time to write articles. One day, I just started, and this is where I am now. I’m not expecting to be a famous author, I’m just writing to just go. I’m not writing to get to any particular destination. I’m using it as a tool to get going. So far, it’s been helpful because Thursdays have been my best days. It’s the one day out of the week that I feel like I have a reason to get out of bed. It started because one day I decided to stop waiting, and just go for it.

Have you been waiting to write? Waiting to learn an instrument? Waiting to apply for that awesome job? Waiting to learn a new language? Waiting to talk to that special someone? Stop waiting, and just take your shot! You’ll win in the long run.