Late…but on time

For the last seven years, every spring and every fall, I’ve led a six-week leadership development series at a local university.

We’ve always met on Thursdays from 9-11 am, and I have my departure time down to a science. If I pull out of my driveway at exactly 7:45 am, I know how long it will take me to get onto the interstate and how long I will wait at the 170/64 merge.

In fact, I can also promise you that if I leave on time, I will park my car on the 5th floor of the parking garage that is attached to the building where I facilitate. Not only will I park on the 5th floor of a very full garage, but one of the first five spots on the right, just past the elevator, will be open. I will pull into one of those spots at 8:22 am on the dot.

I say all this with absolute certainty.

Imagine my panic when, on a recent Thursday, I was sitting in a recliner in my house and noticed it was 7:58 am! I was going to be late.

I grabbed my bag, ran for the door, and pulled out of my driveway at 8 am. I added the destination to my GPS because I thought I would need to reroute due to the delay.

I was stunned when my GPS told me to take my normal route. It also said I would arrive at, are you ready for this, 8:22 am.

I was leaving late… but arriving on time. How is that even possible?

Maybe you’ve had moments like that, too. Not on the way to a workshop, but on the way in life. Moments when you found yourself wondering, “Did I miss my opportunity?” You watched someone else make a change and thought, “I should have done that too.” You felt the weight of, “I think I’m falling behind.”

There are many times in my life when I have felt behind. I went into college coaching after nearly a decade of coaching high school and club soccer. I made a career change and started a business from scratch in my 40’s. In the last few years, I’ve made changes to my insurance and investment plans.

With each of those decisions, I wondered if I was too late.

We tell ourselves all kinds of stories about being behind. Stories about missing the ideal window. About being “late.” And those stories impact our next step. They make us hesitate, wait, and linger while we question things. Those stories convince us that there’s no point in moving forward. Once we’ve decided we’re late, we start to move as if we’ve already failed. We hold back. We play small. We delay the very thing that might move us forward.

But sometimes, what feels like a late departure is right on time.

So maybe the question isn’t: “Am I too late?” Maybe the question is: “What would it look like to do it anyway?” To send the email. Start the thing. Have the conversation. Quit the job. Take the risk. Or set the boundary.

Not when it feels convenient. Not when you feel ready. But now.

Now, while it feels uncertain. Now, while your confidence is absent. Now, while part of you isn’t sure how it will turn out.

Your timeline might not look like everyone else’s, but that doesn’t mean you’ve missed the deadline. It might mean you’re arriving exactly when you’re supposed to.

That morning, when I was running late, I arrived on time, and the same five parking spots that are always open were still available.

I almost let thirteen minutes convince me I was off way off track, when, in reality, nothing had changed.

Feeling late? Do it anyway.

You might discover you are right on time.