{"id":8774,"date":"2026-04-20T11:57:45","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T10:57:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/?p=8774"},"modified":"2026-04-20T11:59:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T10:59:22","slug":"career-lessons-from-the-stoics-2-dont-wait-take-the-next-step-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/?p=8774","title":{"rendered":"Career lessons from the Stoics 2: don\u2019t wait \u2013 take the next step now"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Stoic philosopher Seneca famously said, \u201cwhile we wait for life, life passes\u201d. It\u2019s natural to wait until \u2018the right moment\u2019; when we\u2019re \u2018more qualified\u2019, when work \u2018quietens down\u2019, when the time \u2018feels right\u2019. Seneca said that the right moment rarely announces itself. Review your goals<\/a> regularly as they evolve, then use Navigate Your Future<\/a> to work out your next \u2013 small, manageable \u2013 step. Then see where it takes you.<\/p>\n

Enjoy the clarity that taking action gives you<\/h4>\n

It\u2019s common to hold back on actions until you\u2019re clear on your goals and detailed plan to achieve them. But most career development works the opposite way. You get clearer because<\/em> you take action, not before.<\/p>\n

A Stoic like Seneca knows that if something feels unfamiliar or uncomfortable<\/em>, it doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s the \u2018wrong time<\/em>\u2019 for action. In career planning, small steps that bring clarity might be exploring ideas<\/a> using labour market information, testing out possibilities through work experience<\/a>, or just giving yourself permission to learn as you go<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Prioritise progress over perfection<\/h4>\n

This doesn’t mean rushing into big decisions. It does mean not letting \u2018the perfect plan\u2019 get in the way of a small, manageable action that can move you nearer to your goals or open up opportunities.<\/p>\n

Volunteering<\/a>, taking on a new responsibility at work, or getting useful insights<\/a> from someone in a field you’re curious about \u2014 none of these require you to have everything figured out first. Small steps taken now build experience and confidence, and can reveal opportunities you didn\u2019t even know about.<\/p>\n

\"OUPenny Beecroft is an OU Careers and Employability Consultant specialising in supporting students in Wales. Penny helps students navigate their futures, figure out their goals and build their confidence through one-to-one careers consultations and by designing career learning events and resources for the OU. Explore the rest of the Careers Stories page for more articles from the Careers and Employability Services team.<\/em><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Read the other articles in our Career lessons from the Stoics series – grab unexpected opportunities and control what you can, understand what you can\u2019t.<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Stoic philosopher Seneca famously said, \u201cwhile we wait for life, life passes\u201d. It\u2019s natural to wait until \u2018the right moment\u2019; when we\u2019re \u2018more qualified\u2019, when work \u2018quietens down\u2019, when the time \u2018feels right\u2019. Seneca said that the right moment rarely announces itself. Review your goals regularly as they evolve, then use Navigate Your Future […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[115],"class_list":["post-8774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-career-planning","tag-career-lessons-from-the-stoics-series"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8774"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8774\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8796,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8774\/revisions\/8796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}