I need to wait because… I need to wait because… I need to wait because… What the fuck are you waiting for??!
If you’ve followed me for any length of time now, you know one thing about me (well, you probably know more than one thing, but you definitely know at least this one thing): I take action on my dreams and desires.
I know what I want and then I go get it. Or I figure out what I want and then I go get it. I’m a woman who goes after her dreams and desires with full force.
And I don’t like waiting.
When I decide I want something or want to do something or try something, I’m on it right away. I jump, head-first, and figure shit out as I go.
I’ve never been a waiter (except when I actually was a waiter, like, the restaurant kind). I’ve always been an action taker. And this didn’t just become true when I became an adult.
It’s who I’ve always been.
I’m a go-getter. I’m a make-it-happen-er. I’m a dreamer who’s also a doer.
I don’t approach things with caution. I know what I want and I jump off the cliff. I don’t wait, because, really, what’s the point of waiting?
When you know what you want, you go after it, with everything you’ve got in you. That’s what it means to achieve your dreams.
But the thing I find so crazy is that isn’t the norm for most people.
Most people wait. Wait until they have the money, until they have the courage, until they’re “ready,” until, until, until…
And what ends up happening is, they never jump.
Instead, they just wait.
Then life unfolds around them–and to them–by default. And then eventually they say things like, “it wasn’t in the cards for me,” or “it’s too late,” or “I don’t have what it takes,” or “I still don’t have the money.”
But here’s the reality of what waiting really means… waiting really means that whatever you’re waiting for–courage, patience, peace, happiness, joy, love, freedom, money–probably won’t ever come.
Things don’t just come to you because you want them. The things you want come to you because you’re taking action in whatever way you can every single day.
And if you wait and continue to wait, that’s all you’ll ever be doing–waiting.
The money, the courage, the joy, the love, the whatever it is you think you need to wait for before you can go after what you want, will never, ever come to you. It doesn’t work that way.
I know logically it seems like it should work that way; you want something, and then you wait ’til you’ve got the perfect situation before going after it.
But achieving your dreams is not logical. It’s magical.
Which means being willing to do things and attempt things and take things on BEFORE YOU’RE READY FOR THEM.
Going after your dreams is messy and chaotic. It’s not linear. It’s three steps forward and five steps back and ten steps forward and three steps back. On and on it goes.
And if you wait until you’re ready or until you have whatever thing you think you need to have to finally go after your dreams, you’re already doomed.
You cannot and should not wait. There is only know what you want and take immediate action. Why?
Because life is in session. RIGHT NOW.
And NOW is all you ever really have.
You’re not promised tomorrow or next week or next month or next year. You have no idea what the future holds or if you’ll even be around for it.
And so there’s ZERO point in ever waiting, even if in the current moment you lack the resources to do the thing you want to do.
Because here’s the truth: you will NEVER be ready to live your dream life.
You will never be ready to take that class, join that workshop, spend that money, wear that outfit, try that new hobby, step into being who you really want to be. You will never be ready.
There’s no such thing as ready when it comes to living your dreams.
And if you ever feel “ready,” it means you waited too long.
Was I ready to quit my day job back in 2012 when I had no money saved up and no money coming in and no idea where or when I’d get more money? Hell no!
But I jumped anyhow.
Was I ready to hit “publish” on my debut novel back in 2015 and finally get it out into the world? Hell no! I questioned everything. I tried to rewrite the entire first half of the book after I decided it was done (thankfully my accountability buddy stopped me). I worried that it wasn’t good enough.
But I jumped anyhow.
Was I ready to spend $2k a month for the next three months to work with my new coach or any of the coaches or mentors I’ve worked with over the years? Hell no! In fact, dropping that much money at one time still scares the shit out of me, and I’ve invested $10k several times on mentors and coaches.
But I JUMPED ANYHOW.
Because I know the truth–I will never be ready. And if I wait until I’m ready, it will be too late.
So I jump. Immediately. As soon as I’m clear on what the next step is, and sometimes even before I’m totally clear.
I jump because I want to be someone who gets what they want in life, who lives her dreams and who regrets nothing.
I jump because at the end of my life, I want to look back and be able to say that I truly lived, that I didn’t hide behind my fears or my doubts or my insecurities.
I jump because I want to LIVE.
I jump because there is no other choice for me.
I jump so that I can be an example of what’s possible when you’re unstoppable and let nothing stand in the way of your dreams.
I jump to inspire, empower and motivate you to make the jump in your life–for whatever it is that you truly desire and dream of having.
I jump because I can’t not.
And here’s the thing I’ve discovered with making the jump, over and over again in my life, as I’ve gone after my dreams… it’s in the jumping that the resources, the clarity, the joy, the happiness, the whatever it is you thought you had to wait for, shows up for you.
But not before.
When you’re standing on the cliff, looking down at the dark, uncertain, nothingness below, and worrying and panicking and freaking out, that’s when you’ll lack what’s needed to make the jump–the money, the connections, the divine timing, the freedom, the peace, the clarity, the knowing.
But as soon as you make the jump, as soon as you leap off the cliff into the dark, uncertain, nothingness, that’s when the money, the connections, the timing, the freedom, the peace, the clarity, the knowing, will show up. Not before.
Because all of those things are the HOW. They are a product of knowing what you want and being willing to jump before you know HOW you’ll make it happen.
When I quit my job to become a full-time writer, creator and entrepreneur, I had no idea how I’d do it or how I’d sustain my life or how I’d make money. But almost immediately after jumping, I received the how–in the form of a 401(k) account in the amount of $12k that I had totally forgot about until that moment when the Universe brought it back to my attention.
The money showed up BECAUSE I made the jump.
And I know for a fact if I hadn’t made the jump, if I continued to tell myself I had to WAIT ’til I had the money saved up or ’til I had more money coming in or ’til I was clear on what I would do to make the money, I would STILL be in my corporate day job, hating my life and wishing I was living my dream instead.
I KNOW this for a fact, because that was my life for 7 years.
For 7 years I kept telling myself that I had to WAIT to quit my job, ’til I was 30, ’til I had a savings account, ’til I replaced my day job salary with the money from my business. And so there I sat, day after day, watching other writers living their dreams and feeling so annoyed and depressed because I wasn’t living mine.
Seven years.
Until I finally decided that there was NO RIGHT TIME to follow the feeling inside me that I was born for more. Until I finally understood that acting as if sometimes means taking the leap, even without being able to see the safety net.
Until I finally gave myself permission to trust myself.
And then I jumped.
The truth is, if you tell yourself you have to wait until… then you will always be waiting. So stop waiting, stop “untiling” yourself to death, and please, for the love of life, just jump.
Dream life or bust,
jen
