Yo yo yo. Welcome back to the Further your Lifestyle podcast conversations on lifestyle passions and hustles. My name's Chris, I'm your host and I'm super excited to be back here having the conversation with you. I get excited every time doing these episodes. That's why I actually smile and that's why I laugh a little bit, because one we're on episode 199, and just in that moment there, just before I said it, I kind of just had a moment of pinch. It's like we're at episode 199. We're nearly 200 episodes in and I really appreciate you being here, whether it's your first episode or if you've been here from day one. A big, big thank you. But more on that next week in episode 200.

But today I want to talk to you about a topic which you know it's a recurring topic. It's something which I really push on really hard here because at the end of the day, we're here to further your lifestyle. I'm trying to do things to further my own. I share that. I document that in the rest of the channel here on the YouTube. But if you're here listening in the audio form, you know I'm trying to build a business that suits my lifestyle and I'm trying to continue to be a better version of myself. I've done that through ultra running, I've done that through just becoming a better version of myself by trying to build a business, by trying to create a podcast, and the amount of things that I've been able to learn and attain has been life-changing right. And that really comes down to the topic that I want to talk about today, which is and I'll read it out to you it's a really compelling question of what are you waiting for? What is stopping you from taking the leap, saying those words or starting that project? And today I want to help break down, I guess, some of those barriers between you and the life that you truly, truly, truly want. And I can talk about this all the time because, for me, you know, I deferred or pushed back my dream, this dream, when I was working the nine to five.

I remember working the nine to five for eight years and even the first week when I started, and it was nothing against where I was working, I was listening to the SPI podcast, the solopreneur hour as well, and they were talking about, you know, about finding your groove or creating something that you're passionate about, building your brand, building a business or something that you're proud of. That is going to change the way you live your life, and I couldn't figure out what it is, but I knew that was always going to be an inkling there. There was always something there that I wanted. I wanted to pursue that. I just didn't know what it was going to look like. I tried a number of different businesses. I tried a few different side hustles. I worked on a few different things. I started the YouTube channel. I did all these different things when really the only thing I needed to do was stop deferring it and trying to just put in small amounts of action, but actually take massive action and just jump into it.

Now I'm not here to tell you that's what you need to do. It's different for everyone's circumstance, but the real question is what's something that you've done now and it's been a couple of years later that you had been deferring for so long, and how has it turned out? It's probably been pretty good and you wish you started it earlier. So really, what we want to focus on today is go talk to the person you love. Go tell them how you fear. Build something that you want to see in this world. Build something that you're proud of. Speak about the things that are important to you. Speak about the things that you're passionate about and stop deferring the things that you've always wanted to do. That's what we're talking about today. We're going to dive straight into it. Roll the intro, let's do it.

So this is a very common theme over the last couple of weeks. I mean, why do we actually defer all these things that we want? We have all these big dreams, aspirations. Sometimes those dreams to you are going to be completely different to what I'm dreaming of, and that is fine, but they're your dreams and usually a lot of the time we defer, it is coming off straight off the bat. From last week the fear of rejection or failure, and we spoke about that excuse me, just yawning. We spoke about that If you're not making mistakes, you're not making progress, and a lot of the time people don't want to make mistakes, so they avoid doing it. Therefore, because they're worried, because they're going to, you know, fail, and when we let failure hold us back, we just don't make progress.

Imagine, like you know, if you're in a relationship now. Imagine if you didn't go up and chat to that person or text them or message them, or however you cool kids do it these days, you know, talking to that person you love feels terrifying. At the start it's all scary, nerve wracking, exciting at the same time. What or what if they're not interested? But what's scarier is the rejection or living with the regret of never trying. For me it's the regret and you know there's been some decisions I've been making recently within my own business of you know, weighing up that I get an opportunity and there's been no reason to say no other than I'm just scared. And I'm starting to realize and getting in touch with myself that if it's just a fear thing because it might not work, I have to embrace that. Because what if it does work, if the calculated risk that I'm about to take, if it plays out the way that I think it can? I'm not saying going in blind, I'm saying I've worked on calculated risks and it works out, is that a better payoff than if it doesn't work out? What's the worst case that can happen? Maybe it's going to take a little bit longer. I have to try a little bit, something different, all these different things, but I think I would regret it if I didn't do it.

There's also this myth around the perfect time. There's no perfect time. I'll just call it there. There's no right moment. The right moment is now, when you can take action, and if you're deterring it because of fear of failure, like we said before, then the moment is now Because if you want to grow, if you want to be that version of yourself, you've got to start living that way.

If you want to be cliche, you want to be living a millionaire's life? Well, what are the decisions they're making? What are they doing to make that life happen? You need to start making those decisions. If you want to be fitter, what are the decisions you're making that make you fitter? How do those people live their lives? What are they doing? It's not about you need more time or more money or more confidence. You just need to start where you are and start with what you have. That's how you make progress. That's how you get what you want. Why are you waiting around for the perfect time? It just doesn't make sense.

The other struggle that we have is overthinking and self-doubt tall poppy syndrome, insecurities, imposter syndrome, all these different things. Because of that, we tend to overanalyze instead of actually taking action. I've spent so much time wasted trying to make things perfect when I should have just executed or even starting this podcast. I remember talking and I've spoken about this so many times. I spent months planning on it. I finally got challenged by someone to just start and I did, and here we are, almost 200 episodes later. It's been a journey. I had to figure it out, I didn't know what to do. I had to do a lot of research, I had to plan it out, I had to work on it, I had to get uncomfortable, but that's the by-product of growth.

So what is the power of taking action Like? When we take action, we build what you want to see in this world. Right, or it might be. You're taking action. You're speaking out about what matters to you, or you're connecting with the people that you care about. It doesn't have to be about the big dream job or, you know, taking over the world or empires or whatever. It could just be as simple as speaking out about the things that you are passionate about, being a voice, or just connecting with people that you care about. Right, when we create something meaningful, we get a really great satisfaction from that. Right. Or when we encourage listeners to share with their voice or get other people to communicate with us, it brings a community together. And when we highlight the importance of expressing love and gratitude with others. You know, those people do also change their perspective on life because now, all of a sudden, they feel welcomed.

I guess one example would be every great invention or business or movement has started with someone deciding to take a chance on their idea. I took a chance on myself five years ago. Here we are Everything's okay, it's not that bad. There's a lot of compromises, a lot of challenges and things I have to continue to work through, but I wouldn't change it for the world. What about? You know your perspective might be exactly what someone else needs to hear to help make change happen. So start voicing those things.

Or the other example is we often assume people know how we feel, but we can't assume that unless we tell them, then they actually have an understanding. So we need to talk up. That's the power of taking action. So how do we stop deferring? I think the first thing is you just got to start small. You just got to start today. What is the one thing that you can do today that's going to get you closer to where you want to be? I've done episodes on this numerous times. What is the one thing that you can do today. That is going to get you closer to where you want to be.

If you want to get really into detail and you don't know what that looks like is grab a piece of paper. Think about the thing that you want. Write down 50 or 25 things that needs to happen to get to that goal. You might not have them all, it might not be all the points, but just write down whatever's in your head. Now, out of all those points, what's something that you can do right today?

It might be you want to start a business. You can go get your ABN. You want to start a business. You can get a domain name. You want to start a business? You can start a socials profile. You want to start a business. You can post one of the things that you've made and start selling it instantly.

That's something you can take action on today. That's what I mean by it. You can set deadlines. You can put a milestone that by this date I want to have lost two kilos right, make it 30 days, start working towards it. Two kilos in 30 days how hard can it be? Right, like? What I'm saying is just make this stuff easy for yourself. Give yourself the permission to get out there and make progress and feel confident about it and then you can do it again. Right, give yourself maybe 24 hours to take the first step and then from that, momentum starts from it. But you can't just be waiting around. You got to be doing something. The other thing is understanding that it's going to be messy and it's never going to be perfect. Imperfection is messy. Right, progress over perfection every time. You don't need to have it all figured out, you just need to start, you just need to begin. That's it.

You've heard my story before. I took a chance on myself. I got to the point where I realized I can't just keep trying to build my dream life on a weekend. I didn't have enough time, though I was working a great job. I wanted the better of the two, which was to build a business over, you know, seven, 10 years, something that's going to pay me off for the rest of my life, because I could keep working for someone else. But I'm not going to be happy because there's always this inkling. So I ripped off the bandaid, I left, I stepped away. That took six months to get out and started the podcast. But the podcast doesn't make money. Like it still doesn't make money. But I started a business reselling everything, and now we've adapted that, we've pivoted that and we've turned it into pre-owned clothing. At the end of December 2024, we were the number one men's pre-owned clothing seller for men's active shorts and also number two for casual shirts in Australia. I would never imagine that, and we've only been doing clothing for about two years. It's just wild.

And there's plenty of other great, amazing stories out there of you, the billionaires, or whatever, but it's not about the billionaires. It's about the people that are just living the life that they love, with the families that they have and their worlds that they're living in. Create what you want. You just got to start, because in two years, the time's passed anyway and you'll regret not doing something every day to get you closer to it. So why not? Why not Give it a go?

So my challenge to you is this Right now, think of one thing that you've been putting off. Think of one thing that you've been putting off. Commit to it, and I want you to take the first step within the next 24 hours, and then I want you to come back here in the comment section whether it's a conversation or whatever and just tell me what you've done and let me know. Right, keep yourself accountable. Go do it. Come back once you've done it. You don't have to give me detail, just say I've started my next idea, or I had a conversation with someone, or I finally sent the email, or I've started my business, or whatever it is right, I got my chickens, I don't know Like, whatever it is. I want to challenge you with that. Please drop it down in the comments below. If you hear you listening via audio, jump over to the YouTube version. Further your lifestyle podcast. See how furlong you'll find it.

The other thing is and a little bit of a reflective piece is if you don't take action today, how will you feel a year from now? And what's the cost of deterring or deferring your dreams? You're holding or holding back on your words. It's going to be very expensive. The regret takes a big toil and a big burden onto you. So, please, what are you going to miss out in a year's time?

Imagine if, in a year's time, you've got a little side hustle. Imagine if, a year's time, you've got a full. You know flourishing vegetable garden. What if, in a year's time, you know how to run a marathon? What if, a year's time, you're getting married. What if, in a year's time, you know you've got your art displayed in a local gallery? Like there's so many opportunities, like please just just start. Like seriously, life isn't about waiting for you to be ready, it's the world needs what you have to offer. Right, and I was told this myself. You know you're doing a disservice to the people when you've got something to offer them. Even if it's five people that love your stuff, five people. You could change their lives and they need to hear your truth, your story, your idea. Start today, right, and I'll leave you with this. I'll leave you with this.

Courage isn't the absence of fear. It's about taking action despite it. Fear is going to be there always. It's always going to be a new level of fear, but you take action, you figure it out, you move forward, you take the steps and I guarantee it it's going to help you further your lifestyle. Appreciate you being here. If you've enjoyed this episode, please drop a comment, like subscribe. Let me know what you thought, continue the conversation. But the main thing I ask is if you've enjoyed this and you think someone else can benefit from it, share it with them, send it to them and say hey, you got to listen to this today. Take action and challenge them. Find someone that you can do this together with, that you can take actions together with. Please get out there, make it happen today and come back into the comments and let me know what you've done. Hey, I'll see you in 24 hours, otherwise I'll see you next week. We're back here again doing it all again. You have a wonderful day, cheers.