Every day, we’re faced with decisions—some small, some big, all seemingly inconsequential in the moment. The easy ones? We handle them right away. The hard ones? We push them to next time.
Next time, we’ll launch the new product.
Next time, we’ll fix the broken system.
Next time, we’ll finally commit to what we know needs to be done.
But next time rarely comes. And when it does, the stakes are higher, the problems are bigger, and the opportunity to act has already passed us by.
The Leaky Roof Problem
Imagine you notice a small leak in your roof. It’s just a drip—nothing catastrophic. You tell yourself you’ll patch it next time you have a free weekend. But then it rains. The leak grows. The drywall softens, the insulation gets soaked, and suddenly, what could have been a simple fix turns into a costly renovation.
That’s how stagnation works. Next time feels harmless until you realize it’s too late. Problems compound, opportunities disappear, and the cost of inaction rises exponentially.
Why “Next Time” is a Dangerous Mentality
We tell ourselves that delaying change is smart. That next time will be better. That we’ll be ready then.
But the real cost of next time is enormous:
- Lost momentum. Delaying action kills progress. Great ideas fade, initiatives stall, and the energy behind a movement disappears.
- Compounding inefficiencies. The problems we ignore today don’t vanish—they grow. A broken system left in place only gets harder to fix later.
- Missed opportunities. Every time we hesitate, someone else moves forward. The market doesn’t wait. The world doesn’t wait. Why should you?
This is how entire industries get disrupted. How companies go from dominant to irrelevant. How people with enormous potential wake up years later wondering why they never quite made it.
The Power of “This Time”
Look at Toyota in the 1980s.
American car manufacturers knew their cars were unreliable, but the assembly line was king. Stopping production to fix a defect? That was out of the question.
Toyota did the opposite. They introduced kanban, a system that allowed workers to stop the line the moment they saw a problem. In Detroit, this would get you fired. In Japan, it was how you built the best cars in the world.
Because Toyota understood something that most people don’t:
Fixing problems this time—not next time—is what leads to real progress.
How to Break Free from the “Next Time” Trap
If you want to build something great—whether it’s a business, a brand, or a personal habit—you have to stop waiting for the perfect moment and start prioritizing this time.
Take a lesson from professional chefs.
They follow a principle called mise en place—a method where every ingredient is prepped, measured, and organized before the cooking even begins.
Why? Because it ensures:
- Everything is ready when you need it. No scrambling at the last second.
- Mistakes are minimized. Preparation leads to consistency, which leads to quality.
- You execute at a high level, every time. There is no next time—only this time.
Put It Into Action
- Identify what needs fixing. Look at your business, your process, your habits—what’s not working?
- Decide to fix it now. No more waiting for the stars to align.
- Set up systems that force action. Deadlines, accountability, non-negotiables—whatever it takes to make “this time” the only option.
Bottom Line: “Next Time” is a Lie
We tell ourselves we’ll get to it later. That we’ll take it seriously next time.
But next time is a myth.
The only thing that matters is this time.
So what are you putting off that you already know needs to be done? What’s the decision you’ve been delaying, the action you’ve been avoiding?
Because if it’s important enough to fix, it’s important enough to fix now.
