The Truth About Timing: Why “Someday” Rarely Comes

How many things in your life are on hold until “someday”? That nebulous future time when conditions will finally be perfect for all the things you’re putting off now?

At Televero Health, we hear about a lot of “somedays.” Someday when work is less busy. Someday when the kids are older. Someday when finances are better. Someday when you feel more ready. These aren’t just excuses – they’re genuine hopes for a future moment when taking care of yourself will finally feel possible. But we’ve noticed something important about these somedays: they rarely arrive in the form we’re waiting for.

Maybe you have your own version of “someday” when it comes to your mental health. Maybe you’ve been telling yourself you’ll address your anxiety, your relationship struggles, your burnout, or your past trauma when some future condition is met. And maybe you genuinely believe that someday will come naturally if you just wait long enough.

But here’s what we’ve learned from working with thousands of people over the years: “Someday” isn’t a date that shows up on the calendar. Life doesn’t suddenly clear a perfect space for you to focus on your wellbeing. The ideal conditions you’re waiting for rarely materialize exactly as you’ve imagined them.

This doesn’t mean you’re doing something wrong or lacking in some way. It’s simply the reality of how life works. As humans, we’re wired to believe in a future where things will somehow be easier, clearer, or more manageable. We genuinely think that if we just wait a little longer, the path will clear itself. This isn’t delusion – it’s how we maintain hope and keep going through difficult times.

The problem comes when “someday” becomes a permanent holding pattern. When it transforms from a temporary delay into an indefinite postponement. When it keeps us waiting for perfect conditions that may never align exactly as we imagine.

We’ve seen this pattern play out countless times. The person who waits until retirement to address their anxiety, only to find that without the structure of work, it actually intensifies. The parent who delays their own care until their children are grown, only to discover they’ve forgotten how to prioritize themselves after decades of putting others first. The individual who plans to work on past trauma “when they have more time,” only to find that the passing years have embedded those patterns more deeply rather than resolving them.

This doesn’t mean that timing is irrelevant or that there aren’t legitimate reasons to wait for certain aspects of healing work. But it does mean that waiting for ideal conditions often costs more than we realize at the time.

The truth about timing is that it rarely feels perfect, even when it is right. Most meaningful beginnings happen not when conditions are ideal, but when the desire for change finally outweighs the comfort of delay. They happen when we realize that “someday” is a moving target, not a destination we’ll naturally arrive at if we wait long enough.

What we’ve found is that for most people, someday needs to be created, not waited for. It needs to be carved out of imperfect circumstances, not discovered in some future state of readiness. It needs to be chosen, often before you feel fully prepared or conditions seem ideal.

This doesn’t mean forcing yourself into major life changes when you’re in crisis or truly unable to engage. It doesn’t mean ignoring real constraints on your time, energy, or resources. But it does mean recognizing that if you’re waiting for the perfect moment when addressing your mental health feels completely comfortable and convenient, you might be waiting forever.

The clients who make the most powerful transformations are rarely those who waited until conditions were perfect. They’re the ones who created a small opening in the midst of their complex, ongoing lives. Who recognized that “someday” wasn’t going to announce itself, but needed to be claimed in the middle of ordinary, imperfect circumstances. Who understood that beginning doesn’t require ideal conditions – just enough willingness to take one small step from exactly where they are.

What might change if you transformed “someday” from a distant future point to a modest but real beginning you could make right now? What if, instead of waiting for perfect readiness, you considered what one small step might be possible even in the midst of your current circumstances?

Perhaps it’s as simple as a single conversation, a preliminary consultation, or even just allowing yourself to clearly name what you’ve been postponing. Perhaps it’s giving yourself permission to want something different, even if the full path to that difference isn’t yet clear. Perhaps it’s simply acknowledging that “someday” is a comforting fiction that might be keeping you from the very changes you most need.

Because what we know for certain is this: Healing doesn’t require perfect timing. It doesn’t demand ideal circumstances. It simply asks for willingness to begin before you feel completely ready. To create a “now” out of “someday.” To trust that even small beginnings matter, especially when they’re made in the midst of real life rather than some idealized future version of it.

Your someday doesn’t have to remain forever on the horizon. It can start with one small choice, made today, from exactly where you are.

Ready to turn “someday” into today? Start here.