Lean Quote: Focus on the Future By Acting Today

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve.

"The future depends on what you do today." — Mahatma Gandhi

This is a powerful message and one that especially resonates with me. All our dreams and our aspirations can only come true if we do something about them.

Every time we put something off, the excuse is some variation of the same: "I'll get to it later. I won't be long. I've got plenty of time." Once that moment is gone, though, it's gone forever.

While it may be tempting to think that it's okay to put something off, the truth is you'll never get those minutes back. You can allocate future time to doing tasks you could do now, but that's essentially spending on credit.

Many organizations are waiting for the optimum time to change.  Unfortunately, tomorrow never comes.  If you allow it you will always find another distraction.  There is never a better time to start than now.  We really must invest every day in our future since you can't get back lost time.

We can’t expect immediate result, especially if we’re not doing anything. Whatever we want to be part of our future depends on what we are willing to do in the present. Just like what the quote above says, “The future is created by what you do today, not tomorrow.”

Don’t spend your time trying to wait till things are perfect. Perfection is elusive. It is more important to get started. And it's better to get something done imperfectly than to do nothing perfectly.

If you want a bright future then you need to act now, not tomorrow or the next week. Time is the essence here. Losing a day, a week, or a few months can significantly affect our future. So stop wasting your days. Make it happen today!