miss twenty something ❤︎

oftentimes, i get caught up in the fact that there will always be tomorrow.

maybe i’m not as productive as i wanted to be, maybe i was too lazy to get up and go to the gym. i’d always brush it off and say, that’s okay, i’ll be better tomorrow. tomorrow is a new day!

but what happens when tomorrow never comes?

we all know the habit of procrastination. i myself am quite guilty of it. maybe the habit plants its roots when the task at hand seems too daunting to accomplish, growing with every distraction and misdirection.

whether it’s waking up later than anticipated, the weather outside isn’t quite to your liking (oh, it’s rainy! i have to wait for a sunny day to be productive), or you find a new idea to hyperfixate on that seems so much better than just sitting and finishing what you need to get done, everything seems more enticing than the work put in front of you.

we stall and self-sabotage, and the fear of imperfection cuts us off at the knees before we even get the chance to start.

i’ve gotten into the habit of thinking, “oh, i’ll start tomorrow! let me have one more day to myself, and then i’ll be able to dedicate my time to this other, more important, task.”

but inevitably, this tomorrow never comes. there’s always an excuse preventing us from starting. but guess what? the idea that there will be a perfect time to start—where the sun is shining and the birds are chirping and everything in the universe is aligned for this singular moment to begin—is a misconception and a fallacy. unfortunately, there will never be that perfect time to start. you just have to do it.

obviously, this is easier said than done. who wouldn’t want to, instead of beginning, sleep in until noon, scroll (or my preferred form of indulgence that somehow makes me feel productive when i know i’m not—reading) your life away, or make excuses for yourself by saying, “actually, i’m researching how to have the perfect evening routine that allows me to wake up early and actually start tomorrow, no really i promise i am.”

you must stop this line of thinking. just begin.

life is about trial and error, but you will never truly be able to live it if you are caught up in the belief that everything needs to be absolutely perfect and flawless before you even attempt.

life will truly pass you by if you think in tomorrows. “tomorrow will be more productive. tomorrow will be better. tomorrow is a new day.” these are all true—and should be true. however, you must shift your mindset. don’t think about dumping all of your responsibilities on tomorrow: see what you can improve tomorrow that you already began today.

try your best today. start today. start right now.

don’t wait for the clock to perfectly begin on the half hour. don’t wait until monday. don’t wait until the beginning of the month, or the beginning of a new year.

start now, then reflect on improvements that can be made so that tomorrow is better. not perfect, not flawless. but better.

there is always room for improvement, and it is good to self-reflect in order to become the best version of yourself. but give yourself some grace. you cannot already be the best version of yourself without starting from the beginning.

it takes consistency and discipline, not motivation. it takes getting up early every day for a month, even when the initial motivation wears off. it takes starting your project later in the day—even if you feel like you wasted the whole day already and the day is just a wash.

i’ll leave you with this:

if you die today, you should be able to look back at yesterday and be proud that you tried. don’t let yourself be in the position to be upset that you told yourself you’d start tomorrow—when tomorrow no longer exists.

love, simi ❤