Blake Mycoskie, in his book, Start Something that Matters states,

“People fear the unknown, but the truth is, everything is unknown by definition – no one really ever knows what they are getting themselves into. People tend to think that they should start something ONLY when they are totally and completely knowledgeable about the field they want to enter. That probably will never happen. No one goes into a new venture knowing everything. You have a good idea, you raise money, and you do your best. If you spend all of your time learning and studying to be ready, you’ll never stop learning and studying. And you’ll never start your venture.” 

As human beings, we act as if we are guaranteed tomorrow, 2 years, 5 years, 30 years. When, in fact, no one on this planet is guaranteed the next second. Space-time and fourth dimensional arguments aside, we can confidently assert that the future doesn’t exist.

That is a scary concept for us. For it means that we have to do what we feel is right NOW. We have to take action NOW. We have to face our fears NOW. We have to take a risk NOW. We have to love our families, friends, neighbors and coworkers, NOW. We have to have energy NOW.

You are as ready now as you’ll ever be for this second.

Retreating to that comfortable self-involved, self-serving space that we all love is not an option. We have to give to life today.

Recently, I asked some students in my class to nominate themselves as a CNN Hero.

Their ideas were amazing: starting a scholarship so underprivileged students could go to a private high school, creating an animal sanctuary focused on human restoration, and creating a track and field program at their rural high school.

Then, I asked “when?”

That is when the “if, then” arguments surfaced. “If I get my degree, then go to vet school, then I can do this…” and “If I have more money, and know more about scholarships, then…” or “if I get some help, then maybe…”

What if Steve Jobs or Bill Gates said, “if I get my college degree, only then I can revolutionize how the world connects with data, each other, and ideas.”

The time, truly, is now. So, take a step. Take a risk. Do something to deliver your personal purpose to the world TODAY.

“Change your thoughts, and you change your world.” – Norman Vincent Peale

– Zach