Time Will Pass Anyways
The cost of seeking perfection
Hey, how’re you doing? I want to do an exercise with you. Just answer the question: “What do you often dream of?”
Now I am not talking about those weird dreams that we have where you’re riding a motorcycle at the bottom of the ocean and suddenly are encountered by a catfish but that’s not a regular catfish but an actual cat with gills and fins.
Those are just for the night. I want to ask about the actual dreams that you have while you’re sitting in the subway and staring at the door open and close. When you are in class and the professor is teaching but you stare at the board for too long and dissociate. Tell me about the dream your younger self had when the societal pressure had not reached you.
Life Happens
It does, and I find it unfair. I am not here to tell you that it is easy to accomplish all your wildest dreams (maybe, it is). Because life happens — it is different for you and for me. We have our own hardships and we have overcome terrible days where the clothes pilled up on that one chair and the milk expired 5 days ago.
But here, I want to talk to you about something that’s been on my mind. It’s about time, dreams, and the bullshit excuses we feed ourselves.
Perfection is for cowards
I’ve said it time and again. Jack of all trades, master of none but still better than master of one. Today, most people have given up on having hobbies or starting something new. We usually find something fascinating, start practising it — find out we’re not perfect at it from the start and then give it up.
I used to think it is about society. That we don’t want people laughing at our faces and telling us how terrible we are at this once thing. But over the course of time, I’ve picked up multiple things and given up on then within months. And it was not because of what society will say, or what my friends will tell — it was more about my ego.
See, we’ve been brought up in a competitive world where we have to compete for stardom right from the start. Great education. Great college. Great job. You mess up one step and you fear failure.
This has led us to be cowards. Where we think twice before leaping; because we can’t stand being mediocre in our own eyes
My store right now is a museum of all things I could’ve been — a painter, guitarist, writer and what not. But while I was looking at all the stuff — I realised
Time Passes Anyways
Time? It doesn’t give a fuck if you’re ready or not. It didn’t wait for me to take classes (which I never did) or fix my sleep schedule. It just kept ticking, relentless and indifferent to the excuses.
The ball is always in your own court. So what if you’re at the first step of a long stairway — time will pass anyways. It is up to you if you want to sit there or climb up slowly. Your dreams, your aspirations, your goals — they’re all slipping through your fingers like sand.
You want to know something? This fear, this hesitation — it’s all part of the absurd comedy we call life. We’re all Sisyphus, pushing our boulders up the hill. The joke’s on us if we think we’re supposed to be experts from day one.
Naval Ravikant said, “All the real benefits in life come from compound interest.”
He wasn’t just talking about money. He was talking about skills, knowledge, relationships — everything that matters.
The small, consistent efforts you make today might seem insignificant, but they compound. While you’re worrying about looking foolish, time is quietly multiplying your efforts — or your regrets. Your choice.
Look, I’m not here to coddle you. As David Goggins would say, “You’re in danger of living a life so comfortable and soft, that you will die without ever realizing your true potential.”
The real danger isn’t in failing; it’s in never starting.
Make Life Happen
I get it. You’re afraid of rejection, of criticism, of the crushing weight of societal judgment. But let me borrow a line from Richard Siken: “Everyone is going to hurt you. You just got to find the ones worth suffering for.” I’ll take it a step further — everything worth doing will hurt you in some way. You just have to find the dreams worth suffering for.
Time will pass anyway. So, what’s it going to be? Are you going to let another day, another month, another year slip by while you wait for the perfect moment? Or are you going to embrace the mess, the struggle, the glorious imperfection of the beginning?
Remember, you don’t have to be great to start. But you do have to start to have any chance of becoming great.
Time will pass anyway. The clock is ticking. What’s your move?
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