Physician Life Booster Header Logo
LOGIN
← Back to all posts

When life won't make space: How to start before the dust settles

Oct 14, 2025

Ever catch yourself saying something like:

“I’ll start once the kids are settled in school.”
“I’ll begin working out once life calms down a bit.”
“I’ll focus on my eating after I survive the holidays.”

Here’s the thing: life is basically a string of busy seasons precariously taped together with the bonus of unexpected curveballs. When you wait for things to feel “right” or “calm”, you may notice you end up waiting forever. 

Our brains love to avoid discomfort and conserve energy and stay in known patterns. One of our best stalling tactics is waiting for the “perfect time” or for some elusive feeling of calm and ready.
I’ll wait until it’s easier. But easier never really shows up.

What does show up? Moments. Messy, imperfect, ordinary moments. Our lives are rich and full, and totally crazy some of the time. If it’s not one thing, it’s the next. And those are the moments we need to decide to still get started. 

Starting isn’t about an idyllic invitation. It’s about:

  • Getting up to workout even though your kid had a nightmare last night

  • Going for a 10-minute walk even if there’s a chance of rain

  • Picking up that pleasure book even though you haven’t read that journal article

The courage to do something, even when the “time isn’t right” is the fuel to live the life you want. 

So if you’ve been waiting for the “right time”—this is it. 

Not because it’s perfect, but because you decide that the beautiful chaos of life isn’t a reason to wait.

 

The guilt snack nobody ordered: A sneaky reason urges stick around
Ever notice how quickly a harmless urge turns into a full-blown self-improvement project? You're scrolling your phone. And then your brain jumps in: "I should be able to put this down.""Why am I doing this again?""This is such a waste of time." We usually tell ourselves these things because we're trying to stop. A little guilt should help, right? Except it does the opposite. Now you're not just...
Don't think about this: There is a difference between growth and tolerance
You’re learning how to shift your thoughts.And you’re getting kinda good at it.Maybe even a little competitive about it? You’re in a difficult situation and you go to work.Reframing. Searching for a more helpful angle.There must be a way to choose a thought that makes this feel okay. All this thought work feels productive. You want to be an A+ self-coacher. But sometimes thought work turns into...
You're not late: What if this is exactly when it happens
After a long, long time of not exercising consistently, the two of us crossed over the 6-month mark of meeting daily at 5:30am to do strength training.  While every once in a while our brains offer us thoughts of pride in our consistency, way too often we hear the internal refrain of “I should have started this years ago.”  Exercising.Writing.Saving.Setting boundaries.Making that change you kee...
Powered by Kajabi

PLB Membership

Join the waitlist today to be the
FIRST to know when the next enrollment opens!

 

We won't send spam. Unsubscribe at any time.