The Cost Of Waiting
February 24, 2026
This evening, I came across a very nice quote from Mark Manson: “The cost of inaction is often much higher than the cost of the wrong action.“
Whenever something like this catches my attention, I run it through my own experiences to see if it rings true. And this one does, in many ways.
There have been many moments when I delayed sharing a proposal because I wanted it to be perfect. More data. More polish. More clarity. What usually happened? Momentum faded. Conversations cooled.
Opportunities moved on. The “perfect” proposal arrived too late to matter.
On the other hand, the imperfect but honest proposal, the one that addressed the core need without pretending to have every answer, almost always opened doors. It created dialogue. It invited collaboration.
The same applies to cold outreach. Waiting to avoid rejection guarantees silence. Sending the message creates a possibility. And more often than not, people respond.
Perfection feels safe. Action feels exposed. But in many situations, doing something, even imperfectly, carries far less risk than doing nothing at all.
