Why Wait?

"Anybody can come up with new ideas. Innovators make them happen."
- Michael Leboeuf

'Tis the season.... when the weather starts cooling down, the daylight ends earlier each night, and the masses start to think about the quickly approaching holiday season. Some of us forward-thinkers have even begun thinking about the new year and possibly even New Year's resolutions! I don't know about everyone else out there, but for me, it seems like I was just thinking about my 2009 goals, let alone starting to consider what's to come in 2010! I've seen it time and time again (myself included) where we start to think of new ideas and what's to come, then we put some future deadline in place of when we're going to start acting on those thoughts. Sound familiar?

After reading the quote above, I was inspired to start something... anything! I want to be considered an innovator, not just an idea guy. I suddenly realized that I may very well be seen as an innovator in my professional life by the very nature of my position, while in my personal life, I'm more of just a thinker! How's that for balance? I can easily think back over the past 10 months and recall many things that I wanted to do, or wish I was doing, but never actually did. I've had these grand ideas of a balanced lifestyle and a harmonious existence, including education, recreation, fitness, diet, financial stability, etc. So how's it working out for me? Well, considering I've neglected just about every one of those areas (notice I didn't include "work" since that's where my primary focus has been for much of this year), you can imagine I'm not doing too well with it all.

For those that have known me over the years, you may know that I've never really been a big fan of New Year's resolutions because I've always felt that it's an excuse to wait to start something that you've been meaning to do, when you really could just start now! Also, according to Wikipedia "recent research shows that while 52% of participants in a resolution study were confident of success with their goals, only 12% actually achieved their goals." What kind of chance are you really giving yourself by waiting for the new year?

I'm happy to report that I recently made a list of all the things I feel I want in my life (not just thought about, but actually wrote it down) and I created a schedule for myself that includes time for ALL of those things. Not all of those things all of the time, but making at least a little bit of time for each of the items provides the satisfaction of knowing it isn't missing from your life altogether!

So what is it that you've been waiting to make happen? Don't wait! Decide what you want to do now and take action... be an innovator of yourself!