By Anthony Meindl | Posted May 7, 2014, 3 p.m.

Ive lectured about this innumerable times and yet life keeps showing me (and therefore I must keep reminding myself), that when we wait, were really just postponing possibility.

Possibility for what? For everything!

For the life thats waiting for us, once we take our finger off the pause button.

I think the general rule of thumb is that if youre still talking about doing something a year after you originally thought of it or expressed it or shared it with a friend, then youre postponing for some reason, and sometimes it takes some self-awareness to realize why that is.

Fear. Fear can be quite stealthy and seductive. It can mask itself in many different ways, and if were not vigilant in staying awake to it, fear can take on forms that give us a good explanation, excuse, or out clause for not doing something.

And not only not doing something right now, but not doing it potentially ever. Before we know it, months or years go by without us taking any action, and we seem to move further and further away from what we want because of lots of reasonable-sounding rationalizations.

You know the ones: Youre not ready. You dont have enough money. You need new headshots first. You have to lose 10 pounds. You dont want to appear desperate. You need to let the other person call you first. Youve never done it before. You cant do it alone. You dont know how its going to turn out. Its too hard so why even bother? Your parents dont think you should. Youre not even sure how.

When you start to moveliterally move your body, your spirit, your thoughts, your paradigms, your conversations around the things you desirepossibilities come into focus. All of a sudden, that which seems so far away magically appears tangible and real. Things may still take time, but by getting active and actually doing the thing that scares you, you start to put into motion a whole series of serendipitous events that move you forward in the direction of what it is that you want.

But its up to you; No one can make the call for you, or go to the audition, or ask someone out, or take the vacation, or sign up for a gym membership, or decide that you can do it.

Excerpt from:
Why You Need to Take Action Now