There’s no better time than NOW

I don’t think anyone likes commuting to work. The otherwise productive morning time you could be using for a myriad of more pleasurable or useful things (namely sleeping more or sitting down to eat breakfast) is spent sitting in a car, in a herd of other people sitting in other cars, eyes captive but ears available for listening to funny-yet-mean morning show phone pranks or repetitive pop songs, wasting that gorgeous hour that you could be snoring away listening to noise spewing from the radio.

One of my favorite parts of my commute is hitting that last home stretch, when I know I will be done driving in two minutes, and stopping at the convenient gas station two blocks from my office. One of my least favorite parts of my commute is paying for gas every other freaking day. Sick of completely wasting my commuting time, I decided to transform the hour that starts my day into deep-thinking and reflecting time, as well as time to plan. Since September 2016, I spend this time listening to podcasts related to business, philosophy, money and freedom.

One morning, I plugged the Tim Ferris Show into my ear buds and pressed play on episode #229 with Ricardo Semler. I highly recommend listening to this episode, by the way. This was a well-spoken, perspective-widening interview that was truly a pleasure to listen to given Semler’s descriptive and flowing speaking style and unconventional philosophies.

What really stuck with me was at the very end, when Tim posed a question to Semler:

“If you could have one gigantic billboard anywhere, with anything on it, in other words just getting a short message out to millions of people, what would you put on that billboard?”

Ricardo immediately replies, “I’d write “Now.” That’s enough, I think, no?”

“If people pay attention to Now, so may other issues go away. Because I think so much of everything we do is taken up by the past and the future and so little of our success is there.”

These are powerful words imparting all-too-common advice – often ignored, of course – that I think we all could use a more frequent reminder of.

“Live in the moment.” “There’s no better time than now.”

I hear these all the time, and I say these phrases quite often too, but how often am I really present, living and experiencing Now? How often are we doing the things we dream about Now instead of waiting for the ephemeral Future?

We could all use a little less waiting and a little more doing, I think.

On this morning commute, I pulled into the gas station and I started chatting with the attendant. We started talking about our jobs and how working outside is challenging in this high temperature and humidity. He could relate – he built houses for 15 years. Then he said he was in a family jewelry business for 25 years. In fact, they want him to come back, but he’s done and out – he retired.

“I only work here for the benefits” he told me, gesturing to the gas pumps behind him. His income comes from a 5 family home that he owns — the rental income is what supports his lifestyle. I was impressed and a little surprised, but I guess I shouldn’t be – by now I know that you know little about someone’s financial situation by what they look like, what they wear, what they drive or what they do for a living. This guy has more freedom than every executive in a Mercedes that pulls through that gas station, but none of them know it.

Then he said something really interesting. “I’ve been thinking about selling the property and moving down to Florida. Getting a boat and living by those beaches with the white sand.” I suggested Sarasota, which has beautiful white sand beaches.

As he handed me my receipt, I passed along some advice that had just been given to me. “There’s no better time than now.”

Here’s your friendly reminder, your billboard on the way to work that says “Now.” What have you been waiting to do? What have you been pushing off to the future? What have you always wanted to experience but haven’t had the time? Ask yourself these questions, and then figure out how you can do a little something towards that thing Now. And then remind yourself that the present moment is all you have – enjoy it.