Timing is the art of knowing when not to do something.
Please discuss. How does this play out in life?
I’ll start us out. Knowing what to do in a given situation can be difficult. Once we’ve made a decision, knowing when to enact it can be even more challenging. With an idea in mind, it’s natural for some of us to want to act on it immediately. Others of us may feel hesitant to proceed. Sometimes there’s a more optimal time to set a plan in motion, sometimes it makes little difference. How then can we know when to move forward?
There a several factors in play when turning ideas into effective action: willingness, gut sense, opportunity, resources, and, circumstances. We have control over the first two and only partial control over the rest. Often we’re making plans in response to a life circumstance that we didn’t initiate; we already feel out of control. Those of us who are immediate doers long to regain control by acting right away. Those of us who are ponderers feel even more out of control when faced with choosing timing without owning all the inputs; our uncertainty increases.
A quick review of the factors in effect can help us determine when to wait and when to act:
Willingness: Are we truly all in with our decision? If we have any fears or reservations, we can do internal work to ensure all parts of us are in agreement.
Gut sense: How do we feel about our prospects? Are we confident, hopeful, nervous, or doubtful? If we don’t have a positive sense, we can have interior dialog with our various aspects to understand why. Are we encountering old self-sabotaging beliefs? Is our intuition alerting us to influences our side our conscious awareness that could impact success? Some quality interior time can help clarify this and guide our decision on when to act.
Opportunity: Do we have the needed time to take action now or can we adjust our commitments to make the time now?
Resources: Do we have some sort of guesstimate of the money, materials, and help from others required to move forward?
If yes, do we have what’s needed right now? If no, do we have enough to start and a rough plan of how to get the balance as we go along?
Circumstances: Is the outlook at least somewhat favorable for our undertaking? If not or if we are uncertain about whether it is, how would we know when it is? What would need to be true for our plan to have a good chance at succeeding?
Today’s message reminds me to be a bit tactical, that timing and alignment are key to the success of my plans. How I enact my ideas is as important and when I move forward on them. Working with creation to manifest my dreams in cooperation with the natural energy flow reduces the amount of effort I need to exert. As my partner Nate Hall says: “Nothing you want is upstream.” When indicated, waiting a little bit until willingness, gut sense, opportunity, resources, and circumstances are at least mostly aligned will help my plans succeed more easily. Patience is a form of control over myself.
How about you? How do you decide when to act on an idea?