Tomorrow Never Comes by Jim Stovall
These weekly columns have appeared in newspapers, magazines, and online publications for well over 20 years. I try to create a variety of topics, themes, and subjects, but every column every week ends with the phrase, “Today’s the day.” The world belongs to the person who will set a course and begin moving toward their goal today. Those timid individuals who over-plan, overanalyze, and conduct the most trivial preparations right up to the point where they fail to launch are a huge waste of human potential.
I’m reminded of the sign posted in a convenience store that read, “Free cookies and candy tomorrow.” While the sign created a lot of excitement and enthusiasm, it produced no cookies or candy. Here in the age of social media, it is easy to develop feelings of inadequacy as we review other people’s carefully edited highlight reels online. This feeling of inadequacy far too often causes us to never start.
Not all people who set a goal and begin their quest end up succeeding, but beyond a shadow of a doubt, fully 100 percent of people who fail to begin never reach the finish line. The great author and thought leader, Napoleon Hill, taught us there is never a perfect time to begin, but if we will just get started with the tools we have, better tools will be provided for us along the way. If you have a goal, a calling, or an ambition in your life, you are responsible for it and should be taking action today. Maybe it’s just reading a book, making a new contact, or taking a course, but the roadmap to success never calls for you to sit idly waiting for something you don’t have. There is always something to learn, something to explore, and something to do.
When you read biographies of great people, you discover that they invariably came from humble beginnings. We often wonder if we could have scaled the heights that these great men and women reached, but the more poignant question is: Would we have begun the journey given meager resources and limited contacts? My late great friend and mentor Dr. Robert Schuller said, “I’d rather attempt to do something great and fail than attempt to do nothing and succeed.”
As you go through your day today, draw a line in the sand and just get started.
Today’s the day!
Jim Stovall is the president of Narrative Television Network as well as a published author of many books, including The Ultimate Gift. He is also a columnist and motivational speaker. Listen to his Wisdom for Winners series on Audible. Follow him on Twitter (@stovallauthor) or Facebook (@jimstovallauthor).