How often have you waited for the time to be right and in retrospect missed out on a great opportunity?

How many years have you actually been waiting for the time to be right to do what you really want to do, knowing it will change your life?

• You want to go back to do your MBA but you wonder if you should wait until the children are older.
• You’re a professional woman who wants to start a family and you wonder if you should do it now you are 29 years old or wait another 6 or 7 years until your career is more established.
• You want to leave corporate life and start your own business but you wonder whether the economy will support you at this time.
• You’ve been heading your department now for 12 months and believe you need to restructure if you are going to achieve the goals you have set, but you are concerned whether this is the right time.
• You want to talk with your CEO about your future in the organisation and what she can offer you for your career development. You’ve been delaying doing it for 6 months now, waiting for the right time.

You’ve been thinking and pondering for some time now, but you keep your foot on the brake.

How do you decide “the right time” to do something?

• Right for you?
• Right for the people who share your life?
• Right for your team?
• Right for your organisation?
• Right for…..?
• Or will you try and do the impossible and wait until it is right for everybody?

Ease your foot off the brake just a little and do some constructive reflection on it.

• Weigh up whether it is practical and possible at this time.
• Get a handle on the emotional issues – how you really feel about it?
• Talk with a trusted colleague or friend.
• Go talk with a coach or mentor.
• Talk with the other significant people in your life who will be impacted by your decision.
• Put all your thinking together. Get it out of your head and on to paper where you can see it. Draw up the pros and cons. If the pros are stronger than the cons, don’t wait! Go for it.

Before you do, however, make a commitment to yourself that you will keep your eye on your goal, on making it happen. As every difficulty and challenge presents itself – as they inevitably will – deal with it head on in a proactive, solution focused way. Don’t regress into “I knew I shouldn’t have done this”, or worse, “I need to back track out of this as fast as I can.” Don’t put your foot back on the brake!

There are no guarantees that any decision you make will be right, that any action you take will be successful. What you can guarantee is your own absolute commitment to it. I can do this. I will do this. I can make this happen no matter what gets in the way. Now is the right time. I will make this the right time.

Empower yourself for success!