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The Story

Imagine this: You have exactly 30 days to live. Even 3 months.

What would you do differently?
Who would you call?
What risks would suddenly seem worth taking?
What excuses would you stop making?

Now, ask yourself: Why aren’t you doing those things now?

I recently spoke with a CEO who told me this is how he approaches life as if time isn’t guaranteed. And it struck me: Most of us don’t live this way.

We live like we have all the time in the world.

• We tell ourselves that we’ll pursue that dream when life settles down.
• We’ll take that risk when we feel more ready.
• We’ll have that difficult conversation when the time is right.
• We’ll prioritize what matters when things aren’t so hectic.

But when, exactly, is that perfect time?

I saw this every day when I worked in economic development in local government and earlier in workforce development. I met business owners trying to find a way forward, workers searching for opportunities, and families navigating impossible decisions. Many felt trapped, held back by fear, uncertainty, or the belief that they weren’t ready.

I recognized it in them because I had seen it in myself.

It is easier to help others than to face your own struggles. So, I pushed forward, dedicating myself to my work, watching the same cycles of hesitation play out in those around me and knowing that I was guilty of doing the same in my own life.

Something had to give.

The Illusion of Time

Instead of building for myself or even pausing to reflect on what I truly wanted, I spent years building for others.

I was a chronic over worker, willingly logging 60 to 80 hours a week in jobs that never seemed to slow down. Some of this was due to the environment I worked in, where everything felt urgent. But often, it was me.

I placed the burden on myself. I convinced myself that working long hours would prove my worth. That business equaled value.

Small actions turned into habits. Like Annie Dillard shared “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.”

Then my body gave me a warning sign.

My Wake-Up Call

A few years ago, almost to the day, my husband noticed that every now and then, I walked with a slight limp. I brushed it off as soreness from another cycle of trying to restart my fitness journey.

He encouraged me to see a doctor. I refused. I was too busy.

I shook it off. I had a major conference to plan, after all. There was no time for this.

Weeks passed. Then months.

One day, while walking, I suddenly doubled over in pain, as if someone had punched me in the chest. I couldn’t breathe. I gasped for air.

A minute later, it passed. As if nothing had happened.

But it did shake me up so the next day I went to a small clinic, more as an obligation to fulfill my husband’s suggestion than a priority. The doctor ran tests and told me I needed to go to the ER immediately.

I almost didn’t go.

I said “sure, I will” knowing I would prioritize it later in the day after finalizing some pressing work projects. I honestly felt completely fine. His face shifted and he said, “you need to take an uber right now and go to the ER so they can run further tests”.

Taken aback, I did as he said – and angrily at that. It was in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic and I did not want to be anywhere near a hospital. Luckily no one was there, and they got me in to run some tests. I then sat for 2 hours in the waiting room waiting for the test results.

I was not happy.

Actually, I was downright irritated. I had work to do. I was annoyed that I was wasting time sitting in a hospital instead of at my computer. I was so convinced that this wasn’t serious. I was stronger than this. In my head, all of this was unnecessary.

The doctor finally called me to the back and shared the news.

A blood clot had been sitting in my leg for weeks. Recently, it broke off and traveled to my lung. It was large—dangerously so. If I hadn’t come in when I did, the clot would have burst in a few days.

I would have died.

There it was. As simple as that.

I sat there, stunned. Then regret flooded my mind. I had been so consumed with work, so convinced that I didn’t have time for my health, that I almost lost it all.

I was lucky. I spent some time in the hospital and was given medication. After a few months, the clot naturally dissolved. I made a full recovery. But the experience left a permanent mark.

Because the truth is, I was not invincible. And neither is time.

That moment helped me realize that I had been gambling with my own life.

For so long, I had believed that time was on my side. But time is not something we own. It is something we are given, and it can be taken away without notice.

We act like we can afford to wait.
We assume we’ll always have more time.
But some people wake up expecting another day and don’t get it.

I don’t say this to be morbid. I say this because urgency is clarity.

When you stop assuming you have unlimited time, your priorities sharpen.

What if urgency isn’t something to fear, but something to embrace?
What if the realization that time is finite is what actually makes life more fulfilling?

For Such a Time as This

There’s a phrase that’s been echoing in my mind:

And I’m not alone—many of the entrepreneurs, leaders, and creators I work with are sensing it too.

There’s a shift happening. The world is in transition. People are struggling. The future is uncertain. There is a lot of fear and anger. And yet, in the middle of it all, there’s an undeniable pull—a deep knowing that we are here, right now, in this exact moment, for a reason.

The dreams, ideas, and convictions in your heart? They’re not random.
The things that keep you up at night? They matter.
The problems that frustrate you? Maybe they’re yours to solve.

The urgency of now is real. And maybe, just maybe, you are here for such a time as this.

What’s Holding You Back?

This isn’t just a message for others—it’s a message for me.

For years before my health scare, I was stuck in a cycle of what-ifs and maybes. Ideas filled my mind, but they never made it out into the world. Why? Because I am, admittedly, a recovering perfectionist.

Nothing ever felt good enough to release.
Every thought needed more refining.
Every project needed more time.

So contemplation turned into days. Then weeks. Then years.

Until I looked back and realized—almost every idea I ever had never materialized.

I was waiting for a moment that would never come.

So if you’re reading this and feeling the same? I get it. I really do.

But here’s what I’ve learned:

• Perfection is the enemy of progress.
• Fear is the enemy of action.
• And time? Time waits for no one.

It’s easy to wait. To hesitate. To assume we have more time.

But waiting won’t make the fear go away.
Postponing won’t make you more ready.
Delaying won’t make the idea easier to execute.

In fact, waiting does the opposite.

The longer we wait, the heavier the resistance becomes. The more we rationalize our hesitation. The more we tell ourselves we need “just a little more time”—until, eventually, that time runs out.

And here’s what we don’t often think about:

What is waiting actually costing you?

Not just in lost time, but in:

• Opportunities that passed you by.
• Ideas that never saw the light of day.
• Connections that were never made.
• Impact that was never felt.
• A version of yourself that you never became.

We assume we’re playing it safe by waiting. But what if waiting is the biggest risk of all?

Choosing the Now

As change unfolds around us, let’s ground ourselves in what truly matters.

Let’s stop overthinking and start doing.
Let’s stop waiting for permission and start leading.
Let’s stop fearing the unknown and start embracing the urgency of now.

Because if not now, when?
If not you, who?

So take a breath.

And take the first step.