If You Waste a Year, You Really Lose Two

“If you waste a year, you really lose two. One for what you should have done then, and one to what you’re missing now that you’re doing it.” – Ed Latimore

The cost of procrastination and the value of living intentionally.

The hidden toll of delay: when you let a year slip by—squandering time on indecision, distraction, or fear—you don’t just lose those twelve months. You lose the momentum, growth, or achievements that could have taken root then, setting you further ahead today. That’s the first year gone. But there’s a second, subtler loss: by playing catch-up now, scrambling to do what you postponed, you’re missing out on the opportunities, joys, or progress available in the present moment. It’s a double hit—past potential unrealized and current potential sidelined—all because you didn’t act when the timing was ripe.

This is a wake-up call to seize the day, to stop postponing what matters most. Time doesn’t just vanish; it carries a ripple effect. Wasting it creates a debt that compounds, pulling you out of alignment with both your past aspirations and your present possibilities. It’s important to recognize that procrastination doesn’t just steal the moment you waste—it robs you twice, once in what could have been and again in what you’re sacrificing now. Act today, and you preserve not just one year, but two—and all the richness they could hold.