Why Nothing Is Worth Waiting For

Today, I was a guest on The Craig Fahle Show on Detroit’s WDET. We discussed this article and some of the wisdom from the speeches and how it could be applied to new grads or to anyone trying to figure out their balancing act (career-identity-relationships-carbohydrates).

I jotted down a couple of points I thought I’d mentioned if asked, but didn’t end up referring to my post-it  during our little chat. One of them, however, bears sharing in this venue:

“You don’t have to wait until you have your life figured out to get on with living it.”

You can hear echoes of that in the commencement speech Ellen DeGeneres gave at Tulane and in the expert advice in this piece from a fellow Forbes contributor. Very few of us have the luxury of not starting a project until we have perfect information, of removing ourselves from a context until we’re able to assess every variable objectively, of waiting for the perfect opportunities, perfectly timed.  Self-actualization and slinging coffee at Starbucks aren’t mutually exclusive. You can work toward what you really want while working retail. Rocking a two-piece swimsuit doesn’t really require shedding the proverbial last 10 lbs.

Sometimes, the worst thing you can do is wait. There are bills to be paid, people to meet, mistakes to learn from. It’s okay to start writing your script without having an ending in mind. It’s fine to take care of today and tell tomorrow to take a flying leap. We all need to start somewhere. It might be the bottom. It might be the middle. It might be way out in left field. But it should definitely be now.

P.S. I’m working on an e-book for Forbes on the subject of job hunting in the era of social media and I’d love your input. If you have burning questions about how to navigate cover letters and job applications in our bright new digital world, please send ’em my way!