“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”
There are times when I look back at my online journey and think about how much further ahead I might have been if I’d got serious about this years ago.
Maybe I’d have built the email list by now.
Maybe I’d have worked out what kind of business suited me sooner.
Maybe I’d have avoided some of the mistakes I’ve made along the way.
But there’s not much value in living in the maybes.
Because the years I didn’t use are gone.
The only question that really matters is:
What am I going to do with the years I’ve still got?
Starting Late Isn’t the Same as Being Too Late
I think it’s easy to look around online and feel as though you’ve missed the boat.
Other people have bigger audiences.
They’ve been blogging for years.
They’ve built email lists, products and businesses while you’re still trying to work out exactly what you’re doing.
I’ve certainly had those thoughts.
But I’ve also realised something.
I’m not competing with their timeline.
I’m building on mine.
And perhaps starting later has given me something I wouldn’t have had twenty years ago — a much clearer idea of what I actually want from an online business.
I Don’t Want to Build Someone Else’s Dream
Years ago, success probably would have meant making as much money as possible.
These days I look at it differently.
Of course I’d like the business to make money. Otherwise it isn’t much of a business.
But I also want something I enjoy working on.
Something sustainable.
Something that gives me more freedom rather than becoming another full-time job.
And something that might help people who are struggling with many of the same things I’ve struggled with.
That clarity has taken time.
Maybe that’s not wasted time after all.
Starting Doesn’t Mean Rushing
There’s another lesson I’ve learned.
“Start today” doesn’t mean:
Buy another course today.
Launch another funnel today.
Join another opportunity today.
I’ve done enough starting over the years.
Starting can be much smaller than that.
Write the article.
Set up the email.
Finish the page.
Learn the thing you actually need next.
Then come back tomorrow and take another step.
Progress isn’t created by one enormous decision. It’s created by enough small decisions pointing in the same direction.
The Perfect Time Probably Never Existed
It’s tempting to think there was some perfect moment in the past when everything would have been easier.
I’m not convinced there was.
If I’d started earlier, I would have known less.
I’d have made different mistakes.
And there’s every chance I would have ended up chasing things that weren’t right for me anyway.
What matters is that I understand myself and what I’m trying to build better now than I did then.
That’s something I can actually use.
What Can You Do Today?
If you’re wondering whether you’ve left it too late, I don’t think the answer is another motivational speech about taking massive action.
Just ask yourself:
What’s one useful thing I can finish today?
Not ten things.
One.
Then do another tomorrow.
A year from now, those small steps might have taken you somewhere you can’t see yet.
But you’ll never find out if you keep waiting for the perfect time to begin.
The best time might have been twenty years ago.
I can’t do anything about that.
The second-best time is still mine to use.