A lot of the people I work with, and so many people I talk with informally, have a sense of not being ready for doing the thing (or having the life) that they say they want. There’s an ache inside that’s put off for “someday.” 

That word – someday – belongs on my “watchword” list. One of the many to release from your vocabulary. It’s not on the calendar, so it just doesn’t exist. The someday stuff becomes a vacant wish. Don’t let it. 

I call that ache, something that you feel called to move toward, your Next Big Next. It’s what I refer to when I say, “listen to the whispers.” 

Listen to The Whispers – you don’t have to be ready. You’re ready enough. Enough. You’ve lived through so much already. You’ve taken chances and learned along the way. It’s how you got here. So, that thing you want to do means that you simply need only take a small step toward it. 

You’re not going to get the confidence to do the thing until you do the thing. When I was writing my doctoral dissertation (a whole lifetime ago), something my academic chair told me stuck with me. I didn’t understand it fully then. Now, decades later, I look back and realize how right he was:

The only way to do it is to do it!

My first TEDx talk was a bomb. I can look back on it and see how I would’ve done so many things differently. And I did it. I learned. And my next TEDx talk now has over two million views on it. 

I didn’t find confidence. I took small steps to make what I wanted to happen come about. It’s not always pretty. And if you’re worried about perfection, you’ll never get started. Perfection – to perfect something, as a verb – is an iterative process. 

That’s because: 

Confidence doesn’t come before action. It grows because of it.

Don’t wait. Your time for that thing you’ve been putting off is now. Right now. Whether you want to learn a new language or to travel, whatever it is for you, put it in motion by taking one step toward it today. Then take another step. And another. 

Act. Learn. Repeat.

Start now and you’ll do, have, or be what you wanted before you know it! The alternative? Wait. And then what? Regret.

Take a step toward your Next Big Next right now. When? Right now!

Right NOW.

Keep making your magic and let me know – reply to me here – and let me know what action you took toward that thing you’ve been wanting. I’m here to cheer you on! The world needs who you become because you chose to take action.

I’ll see you here next week!

= Wayne =