Stop Waiting for the Perfect Time to Start Your Side Hustle

We’ve all heard it a thousand times: success is all about being in the right place at the right time. It’s a comforting thought, suggesting that big breaks are a matter of luck or circumstance. But this idea is also incredibly dangerous. It teaches us to wait for success to come knocking instead of building it ourselves. It makes us believe that our situation matters more than our substance.

This mindset is the reason so many great ideas never get off the ground, especially when it comes to . We get trapped in a cycle of waiting, dreaming, and hoping that tomorrow’s circumstances will be better. We convince ourselves that next week or next year will be the “right time.” But if we take a closer look, the whole “right place, right time” theory just doesn’t hold up.

The Best Things in Life Are One Decision Away

I learned this lesson the hard way. I met my wife, Michelle, when I was 16. We dated all through high school and college, and as we started our careers—she in nursing, me in business—I always knew we’d end up together. Yet, after eight years, I still hadn’t asked her to marry me. My friends and family were all wondering what the hold-up was.

One day, a mentor at work asked me point-blank why I hadn’t proposed. I told him I was waiting for the perfect moment, some cinematic sign from the universe. He looked at me like I was an idiot and said, “That stuff only happens in the movies. Can you picture yourself sitting on a porch with her when you’re 75, still having things to talk about?”

When I said yes, he told me to stop stalling. Two days later, I bought a ring. We’ve been married for 30 years. That whole experience taught me that the best parts of our lives are often just sitting there, waiting for us to make a decision. The perfect time isn’t something you wait for; it’s something you create by taking action. The same is true when ; you just have to decide to begin.

Why Being There Isn't Enough

You might think being on the ground floor of a booming tech company is the definition of being in the right place at the right time. Imagine the financial freedom that would come from being an early employee at a company on the verge of a massive IPO.

Noah Glass was one of the founders of Twitter. He was absolutely in the right place at the right time. But he didn’t become a billionaire or even a millionaire from it. He was pushed out of the very company he helped create because investors didn’t believe he was the leader they needed. Similarly, Sandy Lerner, a co-founder of the $180 billion giant Cisco Systems, was fired from her own company. The people around her felt she lacked the skills to lead the organization to its next stage.

Both were in the perfect place, yet success slipped through their fingers. Why? Because success isn't just about being in the right place at the right time. They hadn't yet become the people capable of capitalizing on the opportunity in front of them. This is the critical factor that determines whether a can eventually transition from a .

It’s Your Mindset, Not Just Your Skills

So, how do you become the “right person”? Of course, honing your skills is important. But something else matters far more: your mindset.

To figure out what separates peak performers from everyone else, Harvard psychologist David McClelland worked with my company, 2logical, to study over 23,000 people across 95 countries. We assumed that top performers—great salespeople or brilliant software engineers—succeeded because of their superior skills. The research showed something completely different.

Here’s what we found drives success:

of your ability to succeed is based on your
is driven by your
Only of your success comes from your

Skills still matter, but they play a much smaller role than we think. Think about it: if you aren't accountable, you’ll never take ownership of learning what you need to know for your . If you aren’t resilient, you’ll give up the moment things get tough. Skills are the of having the right characteristics, not the other way around.

The Mindset That Makes the Difference

Highly successful people all have one thing in common: they think differently. They operate from a core belief that they are responsible for their own outcomes and have a limitless ability to learn and grow. A successful starts here.

This mindset leads to a different set of behaviors:

They take ownership instead of making excuses or placing blame.
They stay open-minded and see every day as a chance to improve.
They remain positive when facing obstacles, seeing them as part of the journey.
They act despite their fears and self-doubts.

Your mindset matters more than your circumstances. It’s what will push you to develop the right skills and become the person who can seize an opportunity. Your “right place and right time” is right here, right now. The real question is whether you are ready to be the right person for it.

If you're stuck waiting, ask yourself what you can do to make progress. What small action can you take? What do you need to improve on? The journey to or build a successful doesn't begin when the stars align; it begins when you decide they don't have to.