It was the Spring of 1994. I was a student at Radford University and my final Statistics exam loomed on the horizon. Math had always been my Achilles heel, but Statistics took this weakness to a whole new level. My grade up to this point was teetering between a D and an F. Luckily, a good friend and fraternity brother, Travis Lester, shared this class with me and we made plans to get together the night before the big test and study until the sun came up.

We met up around 5:00 the evening before our 8:00 AM exam. Before we hit the books, we thought it would be in our best interest to grab a bite to eat.  Travis and I headed to a local eatery called Mike’s Pizza and ordered a large pizza with everything on it and a pitcher of one of our favorite beverages. Before we knew it, one pitcher led to two, which ultimately led to three.  Yes folks…we were over served!  Despite this hurdle, we decided we had plenty of time to study for our exam. After all, the sun was still up at this point. So, in our infinite wisdom, we walked over to Thax, another popular eatery just off of campus, to order some of their famous shoestring French fries and to clear our heads. And do you know what goes great with fries? A pitcher of one of our favorite beverages. And do you know what goes great with a pitcher of one of our favorite beverages? You guessed it…a second one. And in a cruel twist of fate…we were over served for the second time in the same night!

At this point, it was dark outside. To say we were behind schedule in our studying would be an understatement. It was time to get to work. But first, we needed to stop and grab another snack…you know…just to settle our stomachs before we hit the books. After all, we still had plenty of time before our 8:00 AM exam. We stopped by B.T.s, yes…another popular eatery, to woof down some mozzarella sticks before our long night began. It just so happened that we knew our server and she brought us each a complimentary frosty mug of one of our favorite beverages. Being the gentlemen that we were and not wanting to be rude, we drank what was set before us. And then ordered another round.

Now it was after midnight. But that was okay, we assured ourselves. We still had almost eight hours to study…more than enough time to prepare and ace this exam. On our way back to my house, we had to pass Mike’s Pizza again. What could a nightcap hurt? I mean, come on, we had almost eight hours to hit the books. Surely we could spare one of them. So we stopped in Mike’s Pizza for the second time that night and split one more pitcher of one of our favorite beverages. And we stayed there until last call at 2:00 AM. Now we were down to six hours before our final exam. Plenty of time, we told ourselves!

We sat down, cracked open the books, and stared at the equations that may have well been written in Greek. Why was this so hard? The answer was simple. We needed coffee! So we closed the books and headed out to 7-11 to pick up a couple of large extra-strong black coffees. We may have picked up a couple of Big Bite hot dogs too, but that’s beside the point. We got back to my house and continued to study, now with the help of caffeine. It was closer to 4:00 AM now, but if we couldn’t get all of our studying done in four hours, then shame on us. After about an hour of futile reading, we decided that what we probably needed was a good, old-fashioned power nap! We’d just rest our eyes for about an hour and then study right up until the exam started. That way, we’d be totally fresh and ready to pass this thing with flying colors. It made perfect sense. So we crashed on a couple of couches in the family room and decided to wake back up at 5:00 AM.

The next time I heard the alarm buzz was at precisely 7:45 AM. To this day, we’re not sure who reset the alarm, but both Travis and I claim to have no knowledge of doing this. Regardless, we woke up, feeling lousy and unprepared, and had just enough time to make it to class by 8:00 AM. I sat at my desk for the next sixty minutes pretending to understand the questions being asked of me. I answered to the best of my ability and hoped to fake it to make it. I did not. The final grades were posted three days later outside of the professor’s office. My final exam grade was a 17. No, this is not a typo. This was my final exam grade. Travis scored slightly higher than I did, but neither one of us had any bragging rights when we finished.

So why am I sharing this story with you? It certainly doesn’t paint Travis or me in the most positive light. And yes, I received Travis’ permission to print this blog. He went on to become a very successful business owner, by the way. Take that, Statistics! Anyway, the reason I’m sharing this story is to offer up a cautionary tale. Our time is finite. It is not limitless. It will end one day. It’s a morbid thought, but it’s the hard truth. Look back at Travis’ and my night. We had a specific number of hours before our exam. We knew what we had to do to be successful, but we kept putting it off. We kept kicking that can down the road for later. And the less time we had, the more we rationalized excuses for not getting to work. Eventually, it was too late for us to do what we had planned. Simply put, our time ran out.

Is there a “can” you are currently kicking down the road? Is there something you’ve always dreamt of doing? Start today! Unlike the previous story, none of us know how many hours we have left to accomplish our goals. Start today! It’s better to come up short on a goal than to never even start. Do you want to go back to school? Start today! Do you want to switch careers? Start today! Are you looking to write that book you always said you would? Start today! Starting doesn’t mean quitting everything you’re doing and changing your life altogether. Starting can simply consist of planning. Do the research. What’s it going to take to get you to where you really want to be in life?

Start today! You’ll be amazed at how quickly your plans turn into execution. And then how rapidly your execution morphs into adaptation. And then how swiftly your adaptation transforms to follow through and you start to see new successes in your life. None of us have the promise of tomorrow. Start today! You’re never too young or too old to start something new. And you’ll find it’s so much easier to sleep at night, knowing that you worked today to realize your dreams.