i meet a fair number of people—students, founders, dreamers—who tell me they want to do X, but only after they do Y.
we want to launch a product, but only after we get a second degree.
we want to go abroad, but only after we’ve settled into a job they already dislike.
we want to start writing, but only after we’ve consumed all the advice books they can find.
we want to speak, but only after we’ve become someone “worth” listening to.
you could even argue that we make more deferred plans than we actually do real plans.
deferred plans sound harmless—responsible, even—but behind their harmless nature is a form of inaction.
many of these people aren’t lazy people. far from it.
they are often intelligent, ambitious, and full of promise.
but we are caught in a loop.
we believe the only way we can do something (we currently have the full capacity to do)… is by first doing something (we currently have zero capacity for).
it’s a cycle of self-deferment:
“i’ll do what i really want, what i know i’m capable of, once i’ve earned the right.”
the danger is not in the delay itself, but in the denial that accompanies it.
we’ve all heard the phrase, “delay is not denial.”
it’s meant to reassure us, to remind us that waiting doesn’t mean giving up.
but what if deferment is a kind of denial disguised as delay?
a denial of one’s current capacity.
a denial of one’s readiness.
a denial that now—this moment, this version of yourself—is enough to begin.
this kind of deferment doesn’t ask for patience.
it asks for procrastination.
so here’s the paradox i’ve learnt: time exists on a continuum.
there is a time and space for everything on that continuum.
add to that, time is also elastic—it stretches and contracts in proportion to our clarity and courage.
when we lean into our agency, we can bend that continuum.
we can bring the “someday” closer to today.
we can collapse the distance between potential and action.
deferred plans assume that our future selves will be braver, wiser, or more equipped than we are now.
but what if the power isn’t in waiting for a better version of ourselves—but in trusting the one we already are?
the continuum of time honors those who move with intention.
it yields to those who act with presence- who act NOW.
and while some things do need time—healing, experience, growth, many other things just need permission- your permission.
here’s a subtle reminder to all of us (including me):
not every plan needs to be deferred.
not every dream needs to wait for its turn.
sometimes, the only thing standing between you and what’s next is the belief that you need to wait.
you don’t.
start now.
figure out the kinks as you go.
“the timeline you’re waiting on might be waiting on you.”
here’s to quashing deferred plans and acting on them now.
ttyl
dulra <3
The time is NOW!