Act Now Means Taking the First Step

Originally written in Traditional Chinese: 追夢最重要的，不是有沒有達成

In September I made a bet with three friends: post every day, and whoever stops first runs a marathon.

I also asked people what they wanted me to write about. The most common answer was not AI. It was Minerva. Twelve people. One comment simply said: please stop procrastinating on this.

So here is the first one.

It started at 2 p.m. on an ordinary day in my principal's office. A friend from my AIESEC days sent me a message about a new book on Minerva's habits of mind. I read about it, and I submitted my application that same day.

People often ask whether that was too impulsive. Here is how it felt. When I hit submit, I was happy. Honestly, whether I got in or not, I would have been happy, because it was something I truly wanted to do.

Over the years I have kept one principle about chasing dreams: what matters most is not whether you reach them. It is whether the chasing itself makes you glad. If you only allow yourself to be happy on the day you succeed, every day before it is just waiting.

To be clear, "act now" does not mean "ignore the consequences." I did not quit a job or bet everything. I sent an application. The worst outcome was a rejection. Acting now means taking the first step, the kind you can afford to get wrong.

This matters even more in the age of AI. AI can draft your plan, list the pros and cons, and build a timeline in seconds. Thinking is getting cheap. What AI cannot do for you is send the first step out today.

One small exercise: write down one thing you have been postponing "until next week." Find a first step you can finish in five minutes. Do it today.

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