If Not Now, Then When? Why 'Now' Is The Right Time To Start Pursuing Your Dreams

Young entrepreneur and digital marketing consultant Jeet Banerjee is unlikely to be the only youthful mind that is full of energy and potentially groundbreaking ideas, but he is part of a select group of Millennials who have actually been able to turn pondering into production.

“I’m 20 years old, I’ve sold and started a business. I’ve launched a handful of others, through which I’ve been able to impact hundreds of thousands of people," Banerjee told a crowd at a TEDx event in Bommer Canyon, California. "I’m an author, and I get the amazing opportunity to speak at conferences around the nation sharing my experiences and knowledge.”

Throughout his journey to the TED Talk, Banerjee had handled finances and managed projects for his father's company as a high school student, he'd created a web design and development company, published books and developed self-help courses.

The entrepreneur is sure to have gained a lot of experience and knowledge throughout his short career, but there was one question left unanswered: "When is the right time to start pursuing your dreams?”

It's a question that many would find difficult to answer. Is there a specific age? A formula? Should people wait five years after they've graduated from college to chase their dreams? Does it matter the field in which they're pursuing them? Is there really an answer that suffices?

All of these questions are likely to stem from doubt -- doubt that Banerjee discovered was common in all dream-seekers, no matter what the age.

“People above the age of 25 and people under the age of 25 said that they were too young," a bemused Banerjee said. "When is the right time to start? Is the magic number only 25?”

Along with not having enough time and not having enough money, age was one of the primary reasons people gave when asked why they weren't currently chasing after their dreams, no matter what side of 25 those surveyed fell into. The implication to derive from Banerjee's experiment, then, is clear: When it comes to chasing their highest aspirations, humans are built to find excuses if they give themselves enough room to do so.

Sometimes, the room given for those excuses is reasonable, however. You would worry about money if there were various liabilities that your dollars had to go to. You would worry about time if most of it had to go to classes. Banerjee acknowledges these concerns himself. What he didn't do, however, was validate them as absolute roadblocks on the path to his goals.

“I faced these same three barriers when I got started, but here’s how I overcame them. Time? Well, I could never seem to find enough of it. But I knew if I wanted to make my dreams happen, I couldn’t find time, I had to make time. So I spent less time going out and hanging out with my friends," he said. "I stayed up a little extra late to balance business and school work.”

So when, exactly, is the right time to pursue your dreams? If you ask Banerjee, he's likely to tell you there's no time like the present, especially if you are willing to find a solution to the questions that cause your doubt. It's either that, or you can wait for concern after concern to curb your ambition. The harsh truth is that if you've given them room to do so, they likely will.

And if you do provide that room, then you might as well allow your doubts to make space for one more question: If not now, then when?