Note: If you want the big thread on Authenticity, it’s posted under “108 principles for Authentic Life” on the website.
The art of timing is one of the most important skillsets you could possibly acquire.
No professional skill comes close in my experience. Of all the mistakes and setbacks I have put myself through, the worst and most grueling have be related to not getting the timing right.
Right Action is the right action always, but it’s even better if you get the timing – and the results – right.
Sometimes it may be necessary to take Right Action even when you have 100% guarantee that it will not produce the desired result. There may be no other way forward. Because it will produce SOME result and – if you are humble – you will learn from it.
Which time is which though?
I just pulled up my personal transits today and it was a big revelation about what’s been happening lately.
My transit chart looks like a disaster zone right now:
- Pluto square Pluto
- Pluto opposite Sun
- Neptune square Venus
- Saturn square Pluto
- Jupiter square Mars
- Jupiter opposite Sun
- Mars square Sun
- Mars opposite Mars
(You don’t need to understand any of this to get THE POINT.)
In short, these are all hard “conflict” aspects. The squares indicate a place where you need to “grind” and make changes or gain new insights by getting over yourself. The oppositions signal delayed action or brutal results to your Right Action – you pull one way but the energies are pulling against you.
Everything that is difficult is even more difficult. Difficult to focus. Difficult to set priorities. Difficult to execute on them. Difficult to align my energy with the desired result. Difficult even to connect with people, which I normally find easy and energizing.
Mars opposite Mars is probably the worst if you run a business because everything you do meets a reaction in the opposite direction, which – with Mars retrograde in Aries – is much stronger than anything you do. Everything that involves other people – from email open rates to gaining followers to closing clients – is a hard “no”.
To top it off, Mercury just entered his retrograde until 3 November, so no new product launches or major moves. And Twitter just broke down hours ago.
(The Spaceweather update with the BIG energies next month is already on Patreon and Subscribestar.)
The beatings have been going on for a couple of weeks now, as most of these are retrograde or slow-moving planets.
And I have been feeling like I’m having my best, most productive time this year.
WHAT?!?
This was made possible by the many previous beatings I had taken. They had forced me to learn something the very hard way.
The worst mistake of timing you can make is to delay all action because your priority action is hitting a brick wall.
The worst mistake of timing is to do nothing because you’re so discombobulated that you can’t even set priorities.
Why?
YOU’RE WASTING YOUR TIME.
The time when things “aren’t going well” is exactly the time when you should be building internally.
Like a rabid beast.
The worst of times is when you do the invisible grind that is actually responsible for your success.
To the naked eye of the loser, it always seems like successful people were somehow gifted or made a breakthrough or got lucky. But even if they start from a very privileged position, there is always piles of unseen torturous dirty work that made that lucky break possible at the end.
When you aren’t getting the desired result, you should be building and rebuilding and even going back to the drawing board if necessary.
I have been doing all of the above and, despite all the “setbacks”, I have never felt more clarity and positivity about my business.
What is the type of grind you should take on when the time isn’t right to make major moves outward?
Building behind the scenes can mean different things to different people with different priorities.
People who are burnt out might just have to take some time off and frack off to a beach somewhere or meditate or work out religiously for a few weeks.
First-time founders may need to ditch their “brilliant idea” and start from scratch.
Young men and women may need to grind on an entirely new skill.
Or you could have to do the sort of backend work that I’ve been grinding at.
Seeing that whatever I did was not producing the desired results, I defaulted to my Three-List System and started executing on back-end work that doesn’t depend on other people or anything external.
I either do it or I don’t.
One of those things was to start dealing with the massive backlog of subscriber emails that’s been gathering dust in my inbox for the past couple of months.
Another was to start uploading the 500 missives that will soon be available on the website.
I even made a list of friends that I haven’t been in touch for a while, so I can call somebody every few days.
How is that related to my business??
I just called a very close friend – a musician! – and he pointed out a big mistake of omission I was about to make. You will see the other big thing that came out of that call in the next missive.
What are some key areas you can focus on when the vibe is off and you’re not getting traction?
1. Revisit things on your to-do list, especially whatever has been on the backburner. Grind out the details and complete your product, make plans for specific action, flesh out new ideas or revise existing ones. (If you think of anything brand new, start working on it but do not launch.)
2. Dig into lapsed business contacts, products or activities. Bring back the things that still fit your Vision (call your contacts, relaunch old products etc.).
3. Rethink your Vision and priorities or invest more time in visioning and visualizing.
(All three also happen to work great for Mercury retrograde.)
Whatever you do, remember this one thing.
The worst mistake of timing is to waste your “bad times” without doing the deep background work that enables your success.
If you don’t do the work, you will be wondering yet again how you could possibly miss another golden opportunity.
Like another mediocre loser.
If you do the work, when the time is right, you will be READY.
Like a vicious predator poised in hiding to snatch that juicy gazelle.
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Questions and comments – let me know immediately.
Choose your best reality,
Your Daemon
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