The Hidden Cost of Waiting | The Sean Trace Show

We often tell ourselves that we have more time. We will take the family photos next year, start the degree tomorrow, try something new later, or wait until life feels less stressful. But while we are busy making plans, our children grow up, our parents get older, and ordinary moments quietly disappear. During a family photo shoot before an upcoming work trip, I was reminded that some experiences cannot be recreated. A baby’s first family photo, a birthday dinner, a childhood memory, or a rare moment when everyone is together may never happen in exactly the same way again. Life is rarely perfect—the house may be messy, the kids may not cooperate, and we may not feel completely ready—but perfection can become the enemy of memories. That is why I am challenging myself to stop postponing the things that matter. Take the picture, record the birthday, book the session, start the course, or try the idea today. Someday, the ordinary moment you almost ignored may become the memory you value most.

What are you postponing because you believe you will always have more time?

Transcript

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So I am out here and uh we're gonna be doing a family photo shoot today and you know a couple things struck me. I'm getting ready to fly back to the USA next week for work and business and my brother-in-law is visiting from Paris and we have this small window to just get some family photos that we haven't been able to do in a while. I was like, well, V, can we just do these photos? It's stressful to get these done before we're on our trip to America on Monday. And I said, hey, can we do it later? But she, you know, there's a lie we tell ourselves. And my brother goes back to Paris on the 17th, we fly on the 13th, and you know, we're not back till the 22nd. There's a lie that we tell ourselves that we have time. We all tell ourselves, oh, I've got time, we'll do it later. But the reality is so often we don't have time. You know, we'll tell ourselves we'll do the family photos next year. We assume that there's always another opportunity, but there's not necessarily. And that can be a challenge. So we gotta start doing things today. Time feels abundant until it isn't. You know, oh I'll do that tomorrow. Tomorrow never comes. I'll do my degree, I'll move to this place, I'll try something new, and then you don't. So you gotta make a change. I got a question to you guys. What are you postponing? Because you think you'll always have more time. I'm starting another master's right now. I'm super excited. I got my MBA and from the same school, Quantic, I'm starting a master's in computer science. Super excited about that. Actually, master's in software engineering. Because I want to build the next big thing. And I can always wait for tomorrow, but today is the best time to start something new. Time never stops, and uh, you know, kids change faster than we realize. It's like yesterday, I was holding this little one and singing to her, You are my sunshine. My only sunshine. You know, parents age, I'm getting older, and families evolve and change. We got a new baby over there. She's adorable and super cute. Life doesn't pause when we're making plans, right? What are your plans for today? Um study, I guess. Take some pictures. Lots of pictures, lots of pictures. And now's birthday too. And birthday today too. Alright. No, it's fun. Thank you. Bye. Change is hard to notice day by day. You know, it's easy to notice big change, but when you wake up and you do the same thing again and again and again, it's hard to see that the world is changing around you. And if you don't pay attention, it will pass you by. Looking good, Nia, looking good, man. Yeah, thank you. Nepal amalun. Okay, I don't know. Okay. Now, why you don't want to wait? Because there's certain things you can't recreate. You know, there's moments that you can't recreate. You know, for a baby's first photo shoot with family, you know, I don't know, there's so many things. First home, first pregnancy, first grandparents, first childhood. You know, all of those things are special. And if you're not paying attention, you will miss them. Once they're gone, no amount of money can buy them back. So you gotta be present and you gotta be with that moment. All right, I gotta go change to get ready for some more photos. Hold on. See you guys in a second. We got a lot going on, but we're getting close. Now, a lot of people avoid documenting their lives, and there's a lot of different reasons people do this. You know, people say I need to lose weight, the house isn't clean, I'm too busy, there's too much going on, the kids won't cooperate. We're doing a photo shoot with a bunch of kids right now. It's never perfect, but perfection becomes the enemy of memories. So get out there, start creating stuff, even if you got flashes, everything going on. Get out there and start doing stuff now. I'm gonna challenge you guys. Okay, I want you guys to get out there and do something. Now, what that's gonna look like depends on you, but I'm gonna say take the picture anyways. Get out with your family, have some fun. You know, whatever what is it that you wanna be doing? Do you want to book a session to go get a personal trainer? Do you want to get some I don't know, man, what is it for you? Take a selfie, you know, record your birthday, capture dinner tonight, get out and do something. Because someday, today's ordinary moment will become extraordinary. And these moments pass by so quick. So enjoy it while it's here. See you guys next time.