If Not Now, Then When? When Will You Be Ready To Do What You’ve Always Wanted To Do?

If Not Now, Then When? When Will You Be Ready To Do What You’ve Always Wanted To Do?

(You can also listen to the podcast here - If Not Now, Then When? When Will You Be Ready To Do What You’ve Always Wanted To Do?)

A while ago I was a guest speaker at a training event where I was asked to deliver a talk on running a training and consultancy business.

There were about sixty people in the room as I recall.

I opened my talk with: “How many of you here are currently running a business?”, to which about ten people raised their hands.

I then asked: “How many of you want to start running your own business?”, to which the vast majority raised their hands.?

“Why haven’t you?”, I then asked.?

To which I got many replies, the most common of which was “I’m not ready yet”.?

One person even told me that he’d been practising martial arts and training in self-defence for over fifteen years.

When I asked him how much money he had spent going on course to get ‘qualified’, etc., I recall him telling me that he must have spent over fifteen to twenty thousand pounds over the course of those fifteen years so that he could become ‘qualified’ to teach.?

Yet he still believed he wasn’t ready.

So this article is about just that. If not now, then when?

Kate’s Story

But firstly, let me start by mentioning a post that was put up on Facebook by a woman called Kate (Kate Walkes The Coast #katewalksthecoast #chriswalkstheuk), which talks about her transition during her 2.5 years or so of walking the UK coastline.??

To put things into perspective, Kate set out on her walk having never done anything like this before.?

This was a drastic change of lifestyle for her? from a “full-time lifestyle from living the fast-paced London life full of cafes, pubs, museums, galleries, gym classes and restaurants to a full blown outdoor wilderness life so to speak all year round”.

“A house for a tent, a comfy mattress for a thin blow up roll mat, a wardrobe for 1 outfit, a kitchen for a fire and a tiny gas stove...the list goes on!?

It will have been over 2.5 years of outdoor living by the time we finish which is a long time - a massive commitment and yet I have never questioned it or felt like turning my back on it.?

Kate goes on to say that: “The walk has made me realise that I can adapt very quickly to a completely contrasting environment and that by putting myself in an environment where I can really allow my primal self to manifest, that feels a very liberating and comfortable place to be.?

“I feel I will be that much quicker to listen to my heart and trust my gut.?

Here's an example.??

Before, I had been toying with the idea of leaving full-time teaching for quite a few years.

What stopped me was that I had worked so hard and I felt so emotionally tied to it; tied to the children, the vocation and because I had given it absolutely everything.?

It was all I knew as a career so there were lots of 'what ifs' but also because I felt it had become such a huge part of me, leaving it felt so scarily huge and life changing that I was hesitant and I kept putting it off.

When I finally did do it, sad as I was, I did just breathe a huge sigh of relief as I knew instinctively I had done the right thing for me and it had been a long time coming.

Now, I feel I've realised that there really is no time like the present.?

There will always be a million reasons/excuses which might make us say, 'No, not yet' but most often, if we want something badly enough, we can always find a way to make it work.?

It will always be a case now of, 'Let's do it! How can we make it work?'”?

“I would spend way less time worrying about a 'Plan B'.

Before the walk, there were big adventures I wanted to do but there were always niggling thoughts holding me back mainly, 'I need more savings in the bank', as well as 'I need more expertise in such and such an area', 'I need more training or better gear etc'.?

This walk has inspired a greater sense of faith in myself to just take the first steps and the rest will follow.??

I could have spent years just saving and saving to do some of the things I wanted to do.

Now, my mentality is not to overthink it - say 'yes', commit and take the first steps to making it happen.

Even if they are small steps, they will get me that much closer to the next ones.

With enough hard work, determination and positivity along the way, I have greater belief now that things would begin to fall into place.”

As Kate’s story illustrates, sometimes you just have to do it.?

Don’t overthink it.?

Just do it.

The Disciples Are Sent Out To By Jesus To Heal The Sick, The Lame and The Brokenhearted (And They Weren’t Ready Either!)

The following is taken from the series ‘The Chosen’ which is available on ‘The Chosen app’ or as an app on Amazon Prime, which is a very good drama of Christ’s life (definitely worth a watch).

One day Jesus called together his twelve disciples to tell them something very important.??

What he was about to do was change them from being mere disciples (who is someone who is a student or follower who applies what he/she has learned) to apostles (those who are ‘sent out’ with the authority of the sender to teach and lead).

The twelve apostles were told by Jesus that they had to go out, two by two, and proclaim that the ‘Kingdom of Heaven is at hand’.?

And then Jesus said this to them: “And while you are on this mission you will heal the sick and the lame by anointing them with oil. You will cast out demons.”

It was then that Jesus noticed that all of his apostles were looking at him.

The apostles then started to question Jesus. “Heal the sick? Cast out Demons?”?

Jesus said to them: “While you are on this mission I grant you this authority. Someday you will have it all the time.”

The apostles were confused and worried.?

They had only just begun as students of Jesus and didn’t feel that they were nearly qualified enough to do what Jesus was asking them to do.?

They were fishermen, tax collectors and zealots.?

They were just ordinary everyday people.?

None had any formal religious training, were religious leaders or even qualified students, yet it was these twelve that Jesus chose as his apostles.?

They questioned Jesus: “Why would you need us for this work?”??

Jesus told them: “If I needed religious leaders or qualified students for my ministry, I wouldn’t have chosen you.”?

One of the apostles asked: “What are we supposed to teach?”

To which Jesus replied: “Anything you have heard from me”.

Jesus then told them: “Take nothing for your journey. Don’t take a walking stick, a traveller’s bag, food, money, or even a change of clothes or an extra tunic.”

Now just imagine that scene for a moment.

Everyday, normal people were being asked to do miracles, things that ‘normal, everyday people’ weren’t expected to do or even believed that they could do.

Some had only been followers of Jesus for months.?

Now they were being asked to go to towns and villages without any money, food or even a change of clothes.?

As a result, they were at risk of persecution, hunger and other forms of danger.

And this was when they realised that they could even die, but Jesus reassured them that this journey would not come to that.

Some still couldn’t understand that Jesus wanted them to go out there, with no defences, no food, no shelter, but just to go out into strange lands and heal the sick, cast out demons and mend the brokenhearted.??

They were (naturally) afraid.

In short, Jesus wanted them to conquer their own fear and misgivings and realise their true potential.?

He wanted them to have faith.?

Faith in themselves, God, those around them and those they would be serving.

Here’s something for you to think of…….

When you have faith in yourself you also have faith in God.?

Doing What You Love

Steve Jobs, the one of the co-founders of Apple Computers once made a speech to the graduating class of Stanford University on June 12th, 2005.

An extract from that speech is as follows:?

“You’ve got to find what you love.?

And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers.?

Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.??

And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.?

If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking.?

Don’t settle.?

As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”

So Why Tell You All Of This?

Many people dream of starting their own business, of being their own boss, turning their passion for something into a business by doing what they love, but what stops them is their own fear and self-doubt.?

Fear that things may go wrong.

Fear of failure.?

Fear of what others may say or think of them.?

Doubt in their own ability.?

They (or you) may not feel that they (or you) are ‘qualified’.?

They (or you) may not know how to do stuff, because they (or you) have never done that before.?

They (or you) may struggle with lots of “what if’s”.?

They (or you) may think that you don’t have enough money.?

They (or you) may feel that they (or you) need more training.

And the list goes on.?

But sometimes you just need to trust your gut.

You need to put your faith not only in yourself, but in those around you and those you will serve (just as Jesus said to his disciples who were now becoming apostles).?

That’s what Kate and the Disciples (now Apostles) did.?

Here’s something else for you to think about …….

You have always been ready.?

Because if it’s not now, then when??

Back To Kate For a Moment

Going back to Kate for a moment, she goes on to say the following in her post:

“So, onto the theme of Transition and Discovery...

Have you found yourself to be a different version of the Kate that you thought you were before the walk.?

Yes and no.

Fundamentally, I feel I'm still the same person - my main character traits haven't changed but I definitely feel I have evolved (I guess that is part of human nature - we are forever evolving whether it be consciously or subconsciously).?

I think some of my main traits from before have mainly just been intensified such as my ability to trust my gut and take a calculated risk as well as my determination, grit, adaptability and self-belief that I can achieve my goal if I work hard enough.

I feel they've intensified because those traits have really made the difference in enabling me to start this and go the distance.”

Nothing Changes Until You Decide To Make a Change?

Kate’s journey has transformed her, as you can see from her own words.

The initial twelve followers of Jesus were transformed from Disciples to Apostles and went on to do great things long after Jesus had ascended into heaven.?

Their initial journey, like Kate’s, would have been fraught with doubts and fears, but that initial journey was, in and of itself, transformational.

Now It’s Your Turn

Don’t leave it until it’s too late.

You are only on this fragile earth for a relatively short period of time.

One of your primary purposes in life (as Steve Job’s put it) is to do what you love because that will make you happy and allow you to do great work.?

Also, (again as Steve Jobs puts it) don’t settle.?

Uncover what your passion is and make it happen.??

If a single woman can decide to walk the UK, having done nothing like this before, and twelve everyday, normal people (fishermen, tax collectors, zealots etc.,) can decide to rise up to the challenge of becoming Apostles by going out to heal the sick and lame and cast out demons, with nothing more than being followers of Jesus for only a few months, what are you capable of if you really put your mind to it.

Make this year your year.??

Own it.???

Live your life.?

It may not always be easy, but it will be worthwhile.

If you’d like to know more about training with NFPS Ltd or you’d like to simply have a one-to-one chat with one of us about your dreams and goals simply go here and let us know how we can help - https://nfps.info/contact-nfps/?

Have a great day.

Have a great year.

Have a great life.