"I'll start when..."

When the kids are older.
When work calms down.
When I have more money saved.
When the timing is better.
When I feel ready.

The condition that never comes.

Here's what "I'll start when" really means:

"I'm not starting."

You've just found a socially acceptable way to say it.

Because "I'm not starting" sounds like a choice. A failure. A problem.

But "I'll start when" sounds like a plan. A strategy. Patience.

It's not. It's a delay dressed up as wisdom.

Let me tell you what happens with "I'll start when":

The kids get older—but then they have activities, and you're busier than before.

Work calms down—for a week, then a new project hits.

You save more money—but now you have new expenses, new reasons to wait.

The timing gets better—but then something else comes up. Something always comes up.

The condition shifts. The goalpost moves. The "when" becomes a different "when."

And years pass.

The brutal truth:

There is no perfect moment.

There is no magical window when everything aligns.

There is no future version of your life where the conditions are ideal.

There's only now. With all its imperfections. All its obstacles. All its inconvenient timing.

Now is the only moment you can actually act in.

"When" is a fantasy. "Now" is real.

Think about it:

Five years ago, you were waiting for the right moment.

Five years from now, you'll look back at today and realize it was the right moment.

The moment is always now. You just keep missing it because you're waiting for a better one.

I wasted years on "I'll start when."

When I had more skills. When I had more clarity. When I had the perfect plan.

That day never came.

What came instead was a crisis. A forced hand. A moment where I had no choice but to start—ready or not.

And you know what I learned?

I was never going to be ready. I was never going to have ideal conditions. I was always going to have reasons to wait.

Starting messy was the only option. It always was.

Stop waiting for the conditions to be right.

The conditions are never right.

Start anyway.

Done negotiating.

-Joel