The start of a new year seems like the perfect time to talk about the perfect moment, because too often we wait until the start of a new year to take on new challenges. This is even though every day is a good day to take on a new challenge.
What Is The Perfect Moment?
The perfect moment is a subjective and often fleeting experience, which we likely won’t even realise has presented itself until it’s actually happening or retroactively. Too often, waiting for the perfect moment cuts to the heart of procrastination and the pursuit of perfectionism, both of which are major barriers to our wellbeing.
For example, if we want to change careers, more often than not, people wait until the perfect moment to do so, and there are a million and one ways this perfect moment will never come (Lee, 2025).
That’s the problem with waiting for the perfect moment to do anything. It’s all too easy to find ourselves stuck in this waiting pattern, when, according to an ancient Chinese proverb, “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now” (Heil, 2021).
This is often my problem, and one of the ways I procrastinate, even over the smallest things, “Oh, it’s raining, better save food shopping for when it’s dry”, even though that means I have nothing to eat at home.
How To Stop Waiting For The Perfect Moment
One of the most precious assets we have is time, which is best encapsulated in the film In Time. We only have so much time, and we never really know how much time we’ll actually have, so wasting time on waiting for the perfect moment is just us robbing ourselves.
Make the idea concrete
One of the main issues with waiting for the perfect moment is being too vague about what we want to do in the first place. One that I struggled with when I wanted to start a new business. I had an idea of what that business might be, but that was it. I was never going to start a business if that’s all I had, no matter how long I waited, and the same applies to any of the things we’re waiting for the perfect moment for. Being vague is our enemy.
Can it be broken down
Most of the time, when waiting for the perfect moment, we could actually be taking steps towards that goal or challenge. This further adds to the likelihood that the perfect moment will never arrive. Whatever it is that we’re putting off while waiting for the perfect moment, see if it can be broken down into steps that we can take. Such baby steps can help us to know if this is the right path or not, and what other steps we might need to take (Lee, 2025).
The first step is always the most uncomfortable. We believe that waiting for the perfect moment is waiting for a time when the task will magically feel easy, which negates the truth that discomfort is the price of growth. If we want things to change, it’s going to cause some discomfort, but that doesn’t mean that discomfort is always bad.
So instead of waiting for the perfect moment. Commit to a minimum viable action. This is a commitment to doing the smallest, simplest, and most efficient step we can take to start making progress on a goal, difficulty, or challenge. Once we take that first step, it then becomes easier to take the next one, and the next one.
It’s all about momentum, not mastery. It’s not about finishing or doing something perfectly, but simply getting out of the gate. To advance it past zero.
Leaving our comfort zone
One of the reasons we wait for the perfect moment is because we’re scared to take that leap into the unknown, unfamiliar, and into what might be uncomfortable for us. This might mean we don’t take opportunities that present themselves because it doesn’t feel like the perfect moment to do so.
For me, this was my opportunity to go from volunteer work to paid work because of my re-entry anxiety regarding entering the paid workforce. The problem with this is that it becomes so easy to come up with excuses about why it isn’t the perfect moment, and thus, that perfect moment may never come (Williams, 2017). If we don’t take risks, even with the things we want to do, then we may find ourselves never starting the race to begin with, and you can’t win if you don’t start.
Don’t let ourselves self-sabotage our lives because of a little fear.
Overcome perfectionism
Perfectionist beliefs leave us with impossible standards, AKA the uncertainty trap. The fact is, the perfect moment doesn’t exist because life isn’t that clean (Lee, 2025). All waiting does is guarantee the status quo. Accept that there won’t be a perfect moment, because there likely won’t be, and embrace today as being a good enough time to make that change, or at least to take a step in the right direction.
Embrace wabi-sabi
The Japanese aesthetic principle and philosophy of wabi-sabi is about embracing simplicity, transience, and the imperfect (Tang, 2025). It celebrates beauty in imperfection, so instead of waiting for that perfect moment, embrace the idea that beauty lies in imperfection, and how any moment will fall into that category.
Furthermore, imperfect action is often better than no action, as it will help to remove the uncertainty. This can even help boost confidence. Because of my perfectionist tendencies, I would struggle with not automatically being good at something, so I wouldn’t try. No one else cared about this but me, but it had a major impact on my wellbeing. Because we’re all going to suck at something we may have never done before.
The right “mood”
Waiting for us to be in the right mood is just another way we deny ourselves by waiting for the perfect moment. If we wait until we’re motivated, have the energy, or are inspired, we may never get started. If I waited for motivation or had the energy, I’d never get out of bed.
Taking action generates emotion, thanks to the completion bias. Our brains also release hormones like dopamine and generate the energy we thought we needed to wait for. In short, taking the first step is where the things we’re waiting for come into play, not the other way around. The perfect (good enough) moment is created, not waited for.
Using the five-second rule and the five-minute rule can really help here. First, we give ourselves five seconds to take action, any action, to get started on our goal, even if that just means getting up off the sofa. When paired with just doing whatever it is we’re going to do with the initial goal of just doing that for five minutes, we will likely find that come that five-minute mark will want to keep going.
For example, if we wanted to write a blog article, we might say to ourselves that we’ll research the content for it for five minutes. Then, the first action in five seconds is to get up off the sofa and walk towards the laptop.
Over-planning
It’s quite easy for us to trick ourselves and think that we’re being productive with our planning, but this can become another form of procrastination. Over-planning is an easy trap to fall into, as it feels like we’re doing something, but really, it’s keeping us from actioning our plan. To avoid this trap, limit how much planning we’re allowed to make before having to take a step in the right direction, to take that first action to get us going.
Thus, prioritise the first step, rather than trying to perfect a 50-point plan. Chances are, those other steps will be wasted time, as the first few steps may mean things have to change from the plan.
Challenge negative thoughts and beliefs
Negative thoughts and beliefs will always be a roadblock, making that so-called perfect moment even less likely to present itself. Our minds don’t always have our best interests at heart, and often just want to take the path of least resistance. The status quo. Just because our brains generate thoughts that our negative, that doesn’t mean we have to listen to them. There are many ways to tackle such intrusive thoughts, with the simplest being reframing.
Be kind to yourself
Above all, always be kind to ourselves. Life’s too short not to be kind to ourselves. Often, it’s this lack of kindness that we show ourselves in the ways that matter that derail our plans to improve our quality of life.
Summary
Life is messy, making the perfect moment next to impossible to appear. But life can also be fruitful if we take advantage of good enough moments, meaning, take action (Lee, 2025). In reality, the perfect moment is now. In fact, this is a good sign of resilience in choosing to start when the moment isn’t perfect.
What is one small thing you can commit to starting in the next five minutes, even if the timing isn’t perfect?
As always, leave your feedback in the comments section below. Also, please share your experiences with waiting for the perfect moment in the comments section below as well. Don’t forget, if you want to stay up-to-date with my blog, you can sign up for my newsletter below. Alternatively, click the red bell icon in the bottom right corner to get push notifications for new articles.
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References
Heil, G. (2021, September). Crucial tactic: Don’t wait for the perfect moment. Outside 365. Retrieved from https://www.outside365.blog/blog/crucial-tactic-dont-wait-for-the-perfect-moment.
Lee, B. Y. (2025, December). Stop waiting for the perfect moment to change your career. Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/nz/blog/a-funny-bone-to-pick/202512/when-struggling-to-shift-careers-heres-one-step-to-take.
Tang, S. (2025, June). Embracing Imperfection: The Psychology of Wabi Sabi and the Beauty in the Imperfect. MindForest. Retrieved from https://mindforest.ai/post/wabi-sabi-imperfect.
Williams, J. J. (2017). Waiting for the perfect moment. Steemit. Retrieved from https://steemit.com/life/@mistercandy/waiting-for-the-perfect-moment.