It’s Never Too Late To Start

Here we are. It’s the last quarter of the year, and it’s go time.

This is my favorite time of the year because the last quarter is when you harvest. It’s when you get to see, for the first time, all the things you sowed from your efforts earlier in the year. And of course, you can’t reap what you don’t sow.

For some, this time of the year is not so fun. That’s because they never started. They never put in the work to reap the rewards. And in this digital age that we live in, there’s absolutely no reason why they couldn’t have started; there’s no reason why anyone couldn’t have started on their dreams.

Do you realize the kind of advantages we currently live in?

I remember growing up on a farm and ultimately helping run the family operation. While there was a sense of knowing what you had before the harvest came, we were NEVER in control of what could happen.

We never knew if there was going to be a drought, diseases, too much precipitation, you name it. All of these variables were not in our control.

At the end of the day, these variables had a lasting impact on our fields every year.

I remember there was a crazy wet spring and we just couldn’t get the seed in the ground. Some of you may be asking why does that matter.

Well, all seeds are different varieties with different heat units. That is units of energy that you expect to receive from the sun from the time that seed goes in the ground to when it’s ready.

If we were two weeks late to seeding, then we potentially lost two weeks of sun that nature, didn’t give us. This would potentially push our harvest by two weeks, which in turn meant our harvest could have been ruined for that year.

Our only other option was to go back to the seed supplier and get a different seed that needed less sun for the remaining time.

I bring this example up because farming is an incredibly stressful existence where most of the variables are not in our control. You really don’t know what the yield will be. And a farmer sows only once a year. Their success depends on that one crop, or group of crops, all sown at the same time. Could you imagine having only one start time?

Could you imagine if your life had only one start time? Well, it doesn’t. Especially in this day and age that we live in.

It’s Never Too Late To Start

Unlike a farmer who sows once a year, where one shot is all they’ve got, you have a new month, every month. All parts of the year you can plant seeds; all months you can be in control. You’re not relying on that one crop, which metaphorically means that one chance in life.

As a digital entrepreneur, a digital marketer in the digital age, we get to have 12 seeding seasons; 12 opportunities a year or maybe even 1,200 a year.

What are we doing with it? Do we just let days, weeks, months or quarters come and go?

Oh well, we’ll have another one; we’ll have another opportunity to present themselves.

Let me tell you; it doesn’t work that way. Farmers don’t have that luxury. Could you imagine if they behaved that way? Even if they did and nature cooperated, they’d have razor thin opportunities to live to tell the tale.

Knowing that I’m not confined by those same restrictions as a farmer, or almost any restriction nature puts on me for that matter, can really change one’s perspective.

I can try something, see if it works and then make immediate changes if it doesn’t.

I can constantly put new things into action, optimize their existence, and use technological systems to scale. I’m more in control of the outcomes than if I were solely relying on nature.

Knowing this means I have no excuse not to start, and neither should you.

See, I think the problem most people have is that they are always waiting for the right conditions, which in turn always makes them fear actually starting.

Things will never be exactly right. It’s a myth to think otherwise. You just have to take action daily and watch the story unfold along the way. The “how” will be revealed to you. You are not confined solely by nature. You have the option of starting at any given period. Do you realize how lucky we are?

So, here we are, the last quarter of the year. If we were farmers and it’s the last quarter, we’d be done. But thank goodness the in the digital world, we have the opportunity every single day; to reset, restart, reboot, re-calibrate, reanalyze and react.

How do we do this? . . .

Acting With a Sense of Urgency

. . . by acting with a sense of urgency.

Acting without having a huge sense urgency is one of the biggest struggles; the biggest causes of procrastination; the biggest reasons we stay stuck in our head and not actually start executing and getting the results we want.

And sometimes it takes us imposing on ourselves a calendar; deadlines; specific outcomes.

It takes an incredible amount of internal fortitude or mental toughness to impose those on ourselves, so we actually do what we need to do; so we get done what we need to get done.

See, what I learned in farming is what taught me values for life. In farming, it was our livelihood at stake; it was our families and communities at stake.

When you have no choice but to succeed, you move with a sense of urgency. When you have no choice but to make sh*t happen, you move with a sense of urgency.

That same sense of urgency has to be applied in all areas of your life. As entrepreneurs, we’re kind of lucky that urgency is a bit built into our system. We’re the boss of ourselves, and if we don’t do the work, we could be in serious trouble.

However, all too often I see some entrepreneurs not act with enough urgency. Don’t be like those people. You’re better than that. Act with intention, act with boldness and act from a core of always hungry, and there’s no telling how far you can achieve.

Do You Want to Live a Life of Meaning?

We did in September. They were achieved from the work we did last September, last October.

Hence, your January goals will be determined by what you did this October, not what you do next January. It’s never too late to get started. You won’t see results the day you put in the time and effort, but if you have the right plan put into place, the results become predictable.

Don’t waste one single hour of one single day.

It’s now time to start planning for next year. That growing cycle is not 12 months; it’s 30 days. Opportunity is not a right; it’s a privilege. When it’s go time, it’s go time. Whether you’re ready or not, it’s go time.

All my best,