You want to create something that matters to you. It’s something you value and that has deep meaning for you. But you keep telling yourself, “Now is not a good time to create it.”
There will never be a better time.
Some new circumstance will always arise and make you feel as if it deserves your attention more than the thing you really want to create…the thing that matters to you most.
So, even though what you want to create matters so much, you end up making other things your priority.
How’s that working for you?
You Are Waiting for a Better Time
You are waiting for some new circumstance or condition to arise that makes you believe it’s the right time to create what matters.
Perhaps you are waiting for the kids to grow up, the job to slow down, the savings account to grow, the anxiety to ease, inspiration to arrive, the world to be less crazy and concerning. You are waiting for the conditions to be right—for life to hand you a clean, uncluttered stretch of time in which you can finally do the thing you’ve been meaning, wanting, longing to do.
That time is not coming.
Should You Try to Create What Matters?
There will never be a better or perfect time to devote to your life’s work or pet project. And that’s because life is life—relentlessly full, perpetually complicated, and completely indifferent to your creative ambitions. Your inbox will always have a missive that demands your attention. The world will always be in some state of upheaval. There will always be a reason to wait a few more months, another year, or until your busy life calms down.
So, the book remains unwritten. The painting stays in your mind’s eye. The podcast lives as a silent note in your phone. The business continues to be just a good idea.
As a result, the thing that matters most and feels like your purpose remains undone or incomplete. Knowing you have still not created it weighs you down a bit more each day. It makes you feel angry, frustrated, defeated, and disappointed in yourself.
Each time you realize more time has passed and you have yet to pursue creating what matters to you, you feel worse about yourself. You lose confidence in your ability to pursue your dream or fulfill your purpose. You may even think it’s not worth trying…after all, there will never be a good time. Plus, you haven’t created it yet; what makes you think you will in the future?
The Myth of the Perfect Time
You’ve likely been sold the myth that there will be a perfect time to do creative work or pursue your passions. You’ve been told that great success emerges from great conditions, like a month away to write your book while living alone in an island bungalow or countryside cottage. You believe you need a sabbatical or a sudden windfall of time, money, and peace.
But look at the lives of people who made things that mattered to themselves and others. They wrote in margins, like 30 minutes while riding on public transportation. They painted in garages, built businesses during lunch breaks, and recorded music or podcasts in closets.
They didn’t wait for their circumstances to be perfect. They didn’t let conditions hold them hostage.
Circumstances Can Become Excuses
Circumstances are real, and so are excuses. However, the truth is that you can create despite circumstances…if you stop using them as the reason (excuse) for not creating what matters.
Yes, you are busy, tired, overcommitted, overwhelmed, and have responsibilities. The timing is genuinely bad. I’m not dismissing the real weight of a demanding life.
Yet, too often you allow yourself to become a victim of circumstance. You give your power to the conditions of your life. At that point, “I can’t right now” becomes “I can’t.” The excuse becomes the story you tell yourself so often that you stop questioning its validity. You believe there is no way to create what matters.
Circumstances give your avoidance credence. It’s easy to say the job is too demanding, the family needs too much, the season of life is wrong, and all of that may be true. It is also true that people with less time, fewer resources, and greater obstacles have created what matters. Despite their circumstances, they have found a way to create the very thing you keep saying you can’t create…yet. If you want to create what matters, at some point, you have to decide to do so, no matter what life hands you. You have to take your power back from the circumstance and create.
Choose to BE a Creator
What separates people who create what matters from people who say they want to create what matters…but don’t…isn’t talent, time, money, or supportive circumstances. It is who they choose to be—their identity.
A huge difference exists between someone who wants to write and someone who is a writer. The same is true of someone who dreams of entrepreneurship and someone who is an entrepreneur. The person who has claimed the identity that aligns with what they want to create doesn’t wait for better circumstances or the perfect time. Instead, they take the actions to create what matters.
Why? Because that’s the type of person they are.
You can choose right this moment to be a creator. Or decide to be a writer, musician, businessperson, teacher, or whatever identity is necessary to create what you value.
Initially, you may need to choose this identity repeatedly. However, when you choose…and commit…to the new identity, your mindset and habits align, making it easier for you to create what matters.
You can choose to be someone who refuses to hand your creative power over to circumstance. Or, you can choose to be someone who looks at a challenging circumstance and says, “This is when I create because creating defines who I am. I am a creator.”
Victims of circumstance wait to be rescued by better conditions. Powerful creators take action imperfectly, incrementally, and tenaciously. They liberate themselves from their circumstances.
What Matters?
When I talk about creating what matters, I don’t mean what matters to the whole world. I mean what matters to you. That could be a project that nags at you, a story only you can tell, or a business idea you can’t forget.
Your soul is asking you to bring this “thing” into existence. And every day you wait, you make a quiet decision that the conditions of your life matter more than the call of your soul.
Even if your creation only matters to you, the fact that you have created it will have a ripple effect. You will be happier and more fulfilled, and those around you will benefit.
However, if others will benefit from your creation, then it matters to them, too. In fact, these people might be waiting for you to create what matters to all of you. Don’t keep them waiting!
The Perfect Time to Create What Matters
You are here, right now, with whatever imperfect circumstances you have. Yet, this is the perfect time to create what matters.
If you choose not to allow your current conditions to prevent you from doing the necessary work, you will create what matters to you.
You don’t need more time, energy, money, bandwidth, or whatever you think you lack. You don’t need a perfect time or a better time to get started.
You only need a decision to be a person who creates what matters no matter the circumstances. And you must commit to that identity and to bringing that thing you value into the world now, not later.
That choice…that decision…always results in the perfect time to create what matters to you.
Are you waiting for a better time to create what matters to you? Tell me in a comment below.
You realize it is time to stop waiting for circumstances to change and step into being someone who creates what matters no matter what. Click here to find out how to finally be a creator and can create what matters to you now.
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Image courtesy of dragoscondrea.
