I’m a night owl by nature, which means I’m often up and working when the other side of the world is awake. I was glad for that fact last night, because one of my favorite Aussies, Darren Rowse, launched FeelGooder, a site that I’ve been looking forward to reading since he first announced the project on Twitter.

I read his first post right away. I commented right away. I subscribed to the RSS feed right away. During his first post, he noted that they were actively seeking guest contributors, which really excites me because I’m so passionate about the message of the site. So of course, I wanted to submit a post. Right away.

When I'm impulsive with decisions, this is what ends up happening.

Yet as I sat there with the contract form open on my browser, I realized that I didn’t know what I wanted to say. I have tons of ideas bouncing around in my head that would be perfect for guests posts on FeelGooder, but throwing all of these ideas into a single post would do nothing more than create a loony pile of crap. And even if I submit something with interesting ideas, no one wants to read loony crap from any impulsive blogger.

I tried to reel it in and come up with a solid, organized post idea. I wrong a passionate email to Darren, but every time I started talking about what I wanted to write, it got muddled. My mind was going in a million directions. I have ideas for 100 posts, not one post. So I decided to take a different approach. Instead of writing an email, I decided to sit down and write the post itself. Then, I could work backward and explain to Darren what it was about or even send the complete text. Much easier, right?

Wrong. Same problem - things were just getting muddled with all the different ideas. I reeled it in a little, but I was still trying to mash 10+ posts into a single post.

Most of my friends were asleep at this point, but one was still awake (night owl like me), and she said, “Well, why don’t you sleep on it and come back tomorrow when you’ve had a chance to think things through and know what you really want to say?”

My initial reaction to that was, “NO! I have to submit something right away!”

But before I could say that, I took a step back. What the crap? Why did I feel the need to submit something immediately. FeelGooder will still be around tomorrow. Hell, it will still be around next week, and knowing Darren, it will be around for years to come. There’s something to be said for being a supporter from Day One and contacting him now, as the site is in its infancy and before he’s completely overwhelmed by people who want a piece of the pie. But logically, if I submit a really great post when it’s ready, that’s much better than submitting a so-so post right now, when there are too many different ideas floating around in my head.

We live in this “right away” world, and that lifestyle can be dangerous. As you think about your career options, especially, making snap decisions doesn’t always pay off. It’s not okay to get complacent and allow life to happen around you, but at the same time, very rarely in life will you be faced with a decision that you have to make right away.

Take some time to decide whether or not you want to apply to that other job.

Take some time to decide if you want to accept a promotion that, along with a pay raise, means you’ll have a more rigorous work schedule.

Take some time to decide if you want to quit your job to be a stay-at-home parent.

Take some time to decide if you want to start your own business.

Take some time to perfect your cover letter before applying to a job.

There’s nothing wrong with taking some time. Not several years - but more than five minutes. Otherwise, you’ll just end up submitting a loony load of crap to someone you really respect. The “right away” lifestyle can be dangerous trap, so when reaching for your goals, don’t forget to take time to reflect on where you’re going.