This is the title of a chapter in the book, Living a Five Star Life, by Betty Mahalik. She acknowledges that we all spend a lot of time waiting. We wait for our turn in line or for the traffic light to change. We wait for more time or for the kids to grow up. She states that, “sometimes we wait until it’s too late.”

So, what are you waiting for? I spoke with a new coaching client yesterday who said she was waiting until she was less busy, but then that hasn’t happened and she realized she was not going to be any less busy than now. She decided to go ahead and start the coaching.

Betty Mahalik states, “Today, this moment is really the only time we have. We can plan for tomorrow, but we must act in the present. What is the difference between the person who intends to make a plan for the next year and the one who actually does? What distinguishes the person who simply makes the plan from the one who begins to implement it? The only answer I can come up with is this: the distinguishing characteristic is action, one person does something now, the other chooses to wait.”

I can definitely confirm this. I started setting annual goals for myself a few years ago. However, I was late setting my goals for 2012. I thought about doing it; even thought about what some of the goals would be, but I didn’t take the time to write them down and plan. In fact, it was probably late Spring before I started actually trying to work toward anything. The end result? I accomplished very little, other than the usual living of life, during 2012.

I was so disappointed with myself, that I determined that would not happen in 2013. I established written, specific, measurable goals for 2013. The result? I worked hard during the year and accomplished a lot. I felt pretty good about myself and where I was. However, when I sat down on New Year’s Eve and reviewed all that I had achieved, I discovered that I was actually closer to fulfilling my goals than I realized.

The result? I set even more specific and aggressive goals for 2014 and I feel incredibly excited about what this year holds for me!

According to Ms. Mahalik, “The key is to do what you can with what you have, where you are. Don’t wait for a better time, act now. If you want to make something happen, now is the time to begin. “If not now, then when?”

It isn’t too late. Determine and write down those goals today so you can begin to live . . . life to the fullest.