Take Action: The Best Time to Write is Now

When you feel the urge to do something, act on it!

I’ve known this for a long time but never actually do it.

But lately I’ve been watching interviews with Sheehan Quirke, the guy behind @culturaltutor on Twitter (X if you must) and he believes in the importance of writing something as soon as it comes to you.

He talks about that here on David Perrell’s Write of Passage podcast:

(By the way, Write of Passage is actually the Cultural Tutor’s patron! How cool.)

On Ali Abdaal’s podcast he explains that when an idea hits him, he immediately moves to write it, sometimes even running home if it happens to land while he’s out on the street. This is how he operates: Whatever he writes about is always something fresh that’s only just come to him that day.

The takeaway is this: If you just thought of something you’re excited to write about, go write it right now!

This isn’t the first time I’ve heard about ideas coming to us from outside of us.

Elizabeth Gilbert proposes in Big Magic that ideas have a way of suddenly landing on you when they want to come into being. When that happens it’s then up to you to decide whether or not you will act on it.

Will you become this idea’s collaborator? If you say yes, you will act almost like a medium to express the idea in the medium of your choice. After you’ve done the thing and expressed the idea you will get the reward of having done it. You birth the idea into this world, and the idea gives you the benefits of being its steward. That might look like recognition, or opportunities, or simply the total fulfillment of having been the vessel for that idea to come through.

But if you keep rejecting the idea’s bid for attention, shoving it to the side instead of giving it your time and energy, then it will eventually move on to another person to become its channel. You won’t know what would have happened had you seen that thing through. And you’ll probably be incredulous when you see someone else talking on tv about that very idea a few months down the line.

So although you can’t say yes to everything (nor should you!) pay attention to the things that your gut says Yes to and direct more effort into making those ideas reality.

By the way, the benefits of taking inspired action in the moment are good for just about anything.

When you feel the urge to get something done, or reach out to a friend, or try something new – that’s the best time to follow through on it! Right then and there when the inspiration to take action is fresh.

I’ve been trying to do this with exercise. I’ve been keeping it really simple: 40 sit ups a day. (I start with an achievable goal so that I have a better chance of actually following through.)

Most nights I find myself chilling, taking it easy. I know I’ve committed to doing these sit ups. I don’t want to. I resist doing them. I find distractions to make me forget or pass my time.

But then, as I’m moving through my night, there’s always a moment where I find myself thinking, “I could do those sit ups right now…” and THAT is precisely the moment I get on the floor and do those sit ups.

True, it’s a few minutes of mild discomfort… But then I’m on the other side of it, I’ve done the thing, and I have all these great benefits from it! I feel good, I did something good for my body, my endorphins are up, I feel more motivated, I’m building strength, I’m toning my body, I’m regulating my brain chemistry, I’m setting healthy life habits, and so on.

This works for cold showers, eating healthy foods instead of junk food, going to bed instead of staying up doom scrolling, etc. After the fact, I’m always glad that I did the more inspired thing right then and there.

And that’s how it is with creative endeavors, too. The best time to do something is always right when the inspiration strikes. Then and there. In the moment. In the now.

It’s like the Chinese proverb goes:

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is today.

Chinese Proverb

How many times do you feel the spark of something light up inside but just shove it aside, thinking “Not now…” only to forget about it later? Or if you do remember it later, by that point it feels totally unimportant? It’s because the moment is gone and the spark is lost.

But if you get the inkling that “Hey, maybe I should do that thing,” then you get up and do that thing – you’ll be living in a different reality.

Stack enough of these choices on top of each other in one direction and you’ll wind up in a different future. Which future do you want for yourself?

It’ll be worth the momentary discomfort of doing something you don’t want to (like exercise) to get a longer, healthier life where you’re comfortable and able to use your body confidently.

It’ll be worth the hours of work put into building your dream so that you can some day look back on the life you’ve built with absolute joy and gratitude.

It starts with saying yes and taking action when you feel that creative light inside of you come to life.

Just remember this the next time you feel the spark of inspiration strike.

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Personal Note

I want to start implementing this practice myself (writing as soon as inspiration strikes) because I struggle so much with writing and posting, although I have an endless wellspring of ideas.

I’m trying to shorten the loop from inspiration (input) to expression (output), so even if these posts aren’t great it’s still a good exercise for me to get in the habit of producing, rather than continuously getting in my own way and stunting my progress.