Think back to a time when things were more simple, when everyday was less stressful and more meaningful. For most of us, it’s pretty easy to remember a time like that.
As time moves forward, life gets more cluttered. You have more obligations, more priorities, more things that suck your time away.
What if you would have started that book two years ago? What if you would have started that blog five years ago? What if you would have acted on that business idea three years ago?
By now, each of those things would have seen growth and increase, because time has a compound interest effect.
But what if I told you that thinking back and wishing you would have started a few years ago is not the way to live?
It’s Never Too Late
You feel like it’s too late, but it truly is never too late to start something that you have always wanted to do.
It takes a year to lose most of the weight you have gained. It takes a two years to turn that side-hustle into a full-time business, it takes a few years to become a master at a new craft or skill.
Most “overnight successes” are a result of the compound interest of 10 or 20 years of hard work. It takes time to do anything meaningful, but you have to actually start in order for time to be on your side.
If you never start something, time will move forward, but you will not.
On the contrary, if you do something and stick with it, both you and time will move forward. The secret is, time will move at a constant rate, but you will grow exponentially.
Someone who has written three books is more efficient and faster at writing another book. Someone who has programmed certain technologies for four years will be much faster, more confident and more efficient than someone who started yesterday.
The only difference between you and a more successful version of you, it time and action.
The reason why it is never too late to start today, is because it takes 10 to 20 years to be truly successful. If you’re 20, you can be ultra-successful by the time you are 30. If you’re 50, you can be ultra-successful by the time you are 60.
It doesn’t matter how old you are right now. Time is time, whether you are 20 or 50. What matters is how hungry you are to put in the time and effort.
It’s Tough To Keep Going
When you’re two months in, you wonder if the business you started will make any money. When you’re four months in, you wonder if you’ll ever be able to run a marathon in the near future. When you’re 6 months in, you wonder if you’ll ever actually finish that book.
These are common thoughts, and thoughts everyone has when they are second guessing their hard work.
It’s commonly referred to as the dip. A period in time at which things start to slow and make less progress than they were initially.
Most of the time, it is beneficial to stick it out. You’ll develop that intuition over time.
But if you don’t have the passion that you once had, or you don’t have the will to move on, keep moving forward. Why? Because time has compound interest, and staying invested makes sure you capitalize on that effect.
You have to give things time in order to see them be successful (I’m the worst at this, trust me). It’s going to be hard work. There will be days that you don’t feel like doing it. There will be times where it seems like all hope is lost.
Don’t quit when it gets tough. Don’t quit when you lose some fiery passion. Think about what you’ll think about in five years. Because in five years time will move forward, but will you?