Are there certain things you’re waiting to do in life?
Waiting around is a common trap that many people fall into, whether it’s waiting for the perfect moment, waiting for your muse to arrive, waiting for the stars to align, or waiting until you “look a certain way.”
It’s as if you’re trapped in a cold, sterile room with beige walls and motivational posters full of empty platitudes – waiting for an eternity until someone or something comes along to make your dreams come true.
And all of this waiting is snatching away the life you deserve to live – a life full of YES.
Think about the last year of your life. How many things did you decline or postpone or put off? And why?
Everyone has trapped themselves in the waiting room of life at some point, including me.
When my literary agent first started sending out the book proposal for BARE, I sat around by my phone, waiting for that six-figure book deal. Waiting. Waiting. And… waiting. Feeling sorry for myself. Negative thoughts creeping in (Does my writing suck? Maybe I should just give up!)
Until I finally asked myself, “why the hell am I waiting around?” I turned my proposal into a program and sold that to hundreds of people, creating my own “six-figure deal.”
Before I hosted luxury retreats, traveling internationally was something that I’d always longed to do. I would beg my husband for “a trip to Italy” or “just one week in London.” I allowed years to go by, growing irritated and resentful, until I finally realized that I was waiting for somebody else to make my dreams come true. I went ahead and booked the adventures I craved, taking personal responsibility for my own happiness.
And perhaps most significant of all, I spent many years ducking out of photos, hiding in the back row, and declining invitations because I didn’t like the way I looked—vowing to “wait” until I’d “lost weight” and “toned up.”
I vividly remember a moment with my daughter Cora when she was a little girl. We were on vacation at the lake, and she snapped a photo of me in my bathing suit. I panicked, wishing I could delete that photo from her film camera. If technology had been more advanced back then, I imagine I would have taken the phone from her hands and deleted myself from it. The thought of that brings tears to my eyes.
What I know for sure is that “waiting” steals our lives and our joy. It sends us to our graves filled with regrets.
So please
Do not wait for permission.
Do not wait to be chosen.
Do not wait for Prince Charming.
Do not wait on the “weight.”
What you crave—more freedom, travel, adventure, money, sex, connection, joy, passion—you can create it.
You can say “yes” to your cravings today, not sometime later.
Life is happening right now. We don’t get these moments back.
Let’s stop waiting and start creating what we want. Book the trip. Take the stage. Make the ask. Accept the invite. Wear the outfit.
Be front and center in the photo… and everywhere else in your life.
