Non Capisco Più Cosa Stiamo Aspettando.

Summary

The speaker reflects on how people postpone things—not to a specific date, but to a supposedly more capable future version of themselves: someone with more time, courage, energy, or money. Meanwhile, personal goals and practical tasks—such as updating a résumé, learning a language, reading, starting a project, arranging a medical check-up, or reconnecting with people—remain undone.

This habit can extend to life as a whole: people wait for the workweek to end or for a vacation to feel that life is finally beginning. In doing so, they may miss everyday experiences and let time pass without creating new memories. The future self can feel like a stranger, making it easy to hand that person today’s unfinished plans. But eventually, the future arrives—with the same postponed tasks and possible regrets.

Why people delay

The speaker gives three reasons people put things off:

• Keeping a dream untouched lets it remain perfect in the imagination.
• Avoiding choices feels safer than risking a mistake, but it also prevents progress.
• People may wait for permission or to feel deserving and ready, even when no one else knows about their goal.

In the short term, people may regret things they tried. Over the long term, the speaker suggests, they are more likely to regret what they never attempted. Mistakes can lead to learning and worthwhile experiences. Rather than waiting to feel ready, people can develop courage and skill by starting and continuing.

Practical takeaways

• Choose one thing to begin rather than trying to tackle every postponed goal at once.
• Take a small step toward it regularly, using available free time.
• Avoid imposing an arbitrary deadline that turns the effort into “succeed quickly or quit.” Explore whether you still enjoy it and learn what the activity involves.
• Give yourself permission to start now instead of waiting for ideal circumstances or a more confident future self.
• Treat trying as valuable even if it doesn’t work out: it can provide experience, learning, and fewer regrets.
• Make concrete decisions and build habits that move you toward what interests you. A small change in habit need not mean transforming your whole life.

The speaker’s final point is that only the present can be acted on. Continually assigning life to the past or future means failing to live it now.

Presenter and sources

• Presenter: Gregorio, from the channel Gregorio in Olanda
• Sources referenced: Pascal, in connection with the idea that people live in anticipation of happiness; and an unnamed psychology study about how people may see their future selves as almost like strangers.