Don't Be the Fool Who Waits
Every year on April 1st, people play tricks, tell jokes, and call each other fools. But perhaps the greatest joke of all is the one we play on ourselves:
Waiting.
We wait for the "right" moment—for more confidence, clarity, and time. We tell ourselves we’ll begin tomorrow, next week, or when the stars align. But that’s the real foolishness—because every day we delay is a day we never get back.
Waiting is a trick your fear plays in a calm voice.
If you’re reading this, you probably already know what you need to do. Maybe it’s a creative project you’ve been carrying for years. A business idea. A fitness goal. A conversation. A journey inward. But you hesitate. You think there’s honor in waiting for the “right time."
There’s not.
“You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think.” – Marcus Aurelius.
The Stoics didn’t see time as something to be spent carelessly. They knew death wasn’t a distant concept but a constant companion, a silent shadow reminding us to live with urgency and intention. This urgency, this intention, is what can drive you to start now, not later. Marcus Aurelius, writing centuries ago yet still echoing with clarity today, reminds us: “It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.”
To the Stoics, wasting time wasn’t just impractical but immoral. Every delay, every indulgence in distraction or procrastination, was a betrayal of our brief moment in this world. They believed that each wasted moment was stolen from the only life we’re given. In their view, wisdom was measured not by how much you knew but by how fully you lived and how present you were with the time you had.
So what are we waiting for? Permission? Perfection? The Stoics would say, "You are already late. Begin."
We act like time is our own. It’s not. It’s only ours to use.
The Cost of Delay
Bronnie Ware, a palliative care nurse, wrote The Top Five Regrets of the Dying after years of sitting with people in their final days. Her insights are not theoretical — they’re earned from bedside conversations with people who could no longer pretend they had endless time.
The number one regret?
“I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.”
The third?
“I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.”
Notice what’s missing: no one said they regretted failing. No one wished they’d spent more time preparing or waiting for the perfect moment. The regrets came from silence. From hesitation. From dreams deferred until there was no time left to claim them.
Each delay is invisible — until it isn't. It becomes a missed connection, an opportunity passed, a door that quietly closes. Days pile up. Seasons change. Eventually, you’re not avoiding discomfort; you’re trading your potential for a sense of safety that turns out to be a cage.
Delay robs you gently. It doesn’t announce itself. It lulls you with reassurances: "You’re not ready yet." "You’ve got time." "You’ll start after this next thing." But tomorrow becomes next week, next season, next year — and suddenly, the window you thought would always be open has closed without a sound.
Think of all unlived lives, books unwritten, businesses unlaunched, and relationships unspoken because someone chose to wait. How many people go to their graves with their songs still in them, not because they couldn’t sing, but because they never dared to open their mouths?
Regret doesn’t come from failure. It comes from not starting — from the stories you never told, the chances you never took, the life you never truly lived. The regret of not starting is a heavy burden to carry, and it's a burden you can avoid by taking action now.
Examples That Should Make Us Move
Vincent van Gogh started painting in his late twenties—with no formal training, encouragement, or acclaim. He died having sold one painting, but he started anyway.
Colonel Sanders franchised KFC at 65, after a long string of failed careers and rejections. He had a recipe and a vision, and it changed the fast-food industry.
Steve Jobs returned to Apple and delivered the iPhone—one of the most transformative technologies in modern history, even while battling cancer.
J.K. Rowling was a single mother living on welfare when she began writing Harry Potter in cafés. Twelve publishers rejected her manuscript, but she kept going.
Julia Child didn’t learn to cook until she was nearly 40, and didn’t publish her first cookbook until she was 50.
Harland David Sanders, the original Colonel Sanders, had his chicken rejected over 1,000 times before anyone gave him a chance.
Noah Kalina, a photographer, began taking photos of himself every day in 2000. Two decades later, it became one of the most iconic photo projects on the internet—all because he started.
Ernestine Shepherd didn’t start bodybuilding until her mid-50s. By her 80s, she held a Guinness World Record as the world’s oldest female bodybuilder.
Leonardo da Vinci said, “It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.”
Every moment they had, they used.
Why Not You? Why Not Now?
There is no perfect time. There is no clean start. Everything is messy at the beginning. But as author Annie Dillard wrote: “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.”
The decision isn’t “someday” or “today.”
It’s “never” or “now.”
You don’t need permission. You don’t need credentials. You don’t need to be younger, richer, fitter, or more experienced. All you need is the courage to take the first step — and the humility to take it badly if that’s what it takes to get going. Remember, the first step is often the hardest, but it's also the most important.
People who start aren't fearless — they just decide to act anyway. And that decision, that courage to take the first step, makes all the difference. It's not about being fearless, it's about being brave enough to start, and that's a bravery you can cultivate within yourself.
You already have everything you need: a desire, a little time, and the ability to choose. The truth is, you are not behind. You’re right on time. The opportunity hasn’t passed — it’s here, right now, in your hands.
If not you, then who? If not now, then when?
Begin today. The road will reveal itself as you move forward.
What Today Has That Tomorrow Doesn’t
Energy — Today you have the spark. Maybe not a wildfire, but even an ember can catch if you feed it. Tomorrow? Fatigue might win.
Clarity—The idea is fresh right now. You can feel the itch to begin. Letting it sit risks letting it fade.
Control — You still have a say in how the day goes. You can carve out time, even if it’s just fifteen minutes. Someone else’s priorities might hijack tomorrow.
Opportunity — Right now, you can make a move — send the email, start the sketch, go to the class. Tomorrow might bring a closed door or a missed chance.
Momentum—Action breeds momentum. Waiting breeds inertia, which is one of the most challenging forces to overcome.
Today has everything going for it, yet we often trade it for the illusion of a better 'later.' But later, it doesn’t show up with more time or more courage. It shows up with more excuses.
Tomorrow has none of these things guaranteed. You might be tired. Life might throw something your way. Someone else might get there first. Or worse — you might look back a year from now, on another April 1st, realizing you played the biggest joke on yourself by not starting today. But right now? You have the chance to begin. Be the wise one who acts, not the fool who waits.**
Start Small, but Start
Start writing that story you've been daydreaming about. Start showing up at the gym even if you don't feel ready. Start making the calls that scare you. Start doing the push-ups — even if it’s just one. Start the conversation you've been rehearsing in your head for months. Start forgiving yourself for not starting sooner, and laugh — kindly — at the version of you that waited this long.
And since it’s April 1st, let’s be clear: this is no joke. The only fool today is the one who stays still when they could be in motion. The one who lets another spring come and go without planting a single seed. So let the day be a line in the sand. Let it be the moment you look back on and say, "That was the first step."
Whatever it is — begin boldly, begin badly, but begin now.
Because what’s the alternative? Another year spent circling the same thoughts, repeating the same excuses, replaying the same 'almosts' in your head? Don’t be the person still talking about starting next April. Don’t be the person waiting for the fear to vanish — it won’t. But it will shrink the moment you take action.
You don’t need to see the whole staircase. Just step onto the first rung. Maybe you’ll stumble. Perhaps you’ll surprise yourself. But movement is momentum, and momentum is everything.
So leap. Send the email. Buy the domain. Walk into the class. Say what needs to be said. Your future self — who didn’t chicken out — will be proud of you.
This April 1st, let the only joke be how long it took you to begin.
Whatever it is — BEGIN.