Someday is A Long Con Game
Bruce Springsteen once said, “A time comes when you need to stop waiting for the person you want to become and start being the person you want to be.” The Boss wasn’t just strumming his Fender — he was punching you in the throat with truth. Most of us are stuck in the waiting room of our own lives, flipping through outdated magazines called Someday and Maybe. It’s pathetic.
The Mirage of “Someday”
Someday, I’ll get serious about my health.
Someday, I’ll launch that business.
Someday, I’ll leave this soul-sucking job.
Newsflash: “Someday” is a con. It’s the Nigerian Prince of self-talk. It keeps you broke, stuck, and quietly dying inside. Every time you tell yourself “someday,” you’re writing another IOU to your future self — except the debt collector is regret, and that bastard charges compounding interest.
The brutal truth? There is no “someday.” There’s only today, and you’re burning daylight.
The Cult of Transformation
We worship transformation like it’s a Marvel superhero movie. The six-pack in 90 days. The seven-figure business in six months. But transformation isn’t cinematic — it’s grimy, boring, and built on micro-decisions.
You don’t “become” a leader when you get a title. You become a leader when you stop ducking conflict and finally tell your underperformer to step it up. You don’t become an athlete because you bought $200 Hokas. You become one when you run in the rain, hungover, with nobody watching.
The future “you” isn’t waiting to be discovered — it’s sitting across from you at the table, asking: Why the hell aren’t you acting like me yet?
Identity Is a Damn Verb
Identity isn’t a birthmark. It’s a behavior. Stop telling me you’re not a morning person. That’s code for I scroll TikTok until 1 a.m. and wonder why life feels like a hangover. Stop claiming you’re not a leader. That’s code for I’d rather be liked than respected.
Want to be a writer? Write. Even if it sucks. Want to be a leader? Lead. Even if your voice shakes. Want to be a better parent? Be present. Put down your damn phone.
You don’t wait to become. You do your way into becoming.
The Bill for Waiting
Every day you wait, the meter’s running. It’s a tax on your health, your career, your relationships. And unlike taxes, you don’t get deductions.
The market doesn’t pay you for intentions; it pays you for execution. Your partner doesn’t give a damn about your promises; they want presence. Your body doesn’t care about your good intentions; it registers reps, not resolutions.
Waiting is expensive. The invoice shows up in regret, and regret is the single most brutal currency — because you can’t earn it back.
Talent Is Cheap. Courage Is Priceless.
Talent is nice. But the graveyard is stacked with “talented” people who waited. Courage? That’s scarce. Courage is posting your work when nobody’s reading. Courage is showing up when you’re not ready. Courage is saying what needs to be said, even if it costs you popularity.
Springsteen’s left hook isn’t poetic — it’s savage: Stop waiting for confidence. Confidence is a lagging indicator. Courage is the leading one.
Three Punches to the Face
Here’s how you stop being a someday-sucker and start being the damn person you want to be:
- Stop rehearsing. Life isn’t a dress rehearsal. You’re on stage, lights are hot, and the mic is live. Perform.
- Act your way in. Don’t wait to feel confident. Act. Confidence will catch up — like a loyal dog.
- Kill “someday.” Replace it with today. You don’t need a 90-day plan; you need 12 seconds of courage to send the email, make the call, walk into the gym.
The Boss Was Right
The time isn’t coming. It’s here. Every damn minute you spend waiting is theft — from your future self, from your kids, from the life you say you want.
Be messy. Be loud. Be imperfect. But be.
Because the only thing worse than failure is realizing you never showed up for the fight.
Let’s go.
Hi, I’m Brian Fink, the author of Talk Tech To Me. If you like how I write, preorder my newest book, Talk Tech To Me 2.0 available October 6, 2025.
