Stop waiting for the “perfect time” to pursue your dreams. Media personality and mental performance coach Zuraida Jardine offers a gentle but firm nudge: that time is now.
Cape Town, South Africa (20 November 2025) – Many of us can relate to putting certain dreams or goals on hold with hopes to revisit them when the circumstances are ideal or the time feels right.
It could be starting a new career, taking up a new hobby or study, or even pursuing a new business venture.
When Zuraida Jardine’s daughter started school, she didn’t just drop her at the gate and drive away to a “normal” day. She also packed her own bag, found her way to her lecture halls and learned how to study again in her 40s.
For most of her daughter’s life, Zuraida has juggled deadlines, dinner, exams, work, and motherhood all at once. Not perfectly or gracefully, but honestly.
“There was guilt,” Zuraida admits in a post.
“The ‘I should be there’ guilt. The ‘am I allowed to want more?’ guilt, but there was also something else growing quietly in the background: evidence. Evidence that a woman is allowed to evolve while her children are watching. Evidence that starting again isn’t selfish, it’s a living lesson in what’s possible.”
The renowned mental performance coach and integrative wellbeing expert credits a strong support system for helping through most days and says that sharing her journey publicly isn’t just to encourage moms. It’s for anyone who keeps postponing their next chapter until ‘work calms down’, or ‘things feel more stable’.
“Here’s the uncomfortable truth: your brain doesn’t need more time; it needs a clear decision and a first step. Neuroplasticity, which is your brain’s ability to rewire, doesn’t check your birth year or relationship status before it gets to work.”
Zuraida encourages us all to take the leap of faith and go after the hopes and dreams planted inside us, just waiting to take root. Because, well, there’s no time like the present, and you’re allowed to choose a bigger life than the one you’ve been handed.
“So, if this hits a nerve, take it as your sign: Stop waiting for the ‘right time’.
Start backing the version of you who will one day look back and say, ‘I’m so glad I didn’t sit this life out’, she encourages.
Sources: Zuraida Jardine
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