Don’t Move Until It’s Yours: The Taoist Art of Moving Only When It’s Time
It was almost mine. On paper, everything lined up. And I moved.
Fast.
The platform was big. The energy was electric. I had the plan, the people, the yeses.
But within days, a subtle, uneasy hum began beneath the surface.
Nothing was wrong. But everything felt… just slightly out of sync.
Like trying to summon spring in the heart of winter.
Like pushing open a door that would’ve opened effortlessly—had I just waited a little longer.
It wasn’t the idea that failed.
It was the timing.
when you move too soon
You know the feeling.
✹ Saying “yes” before your body does.
✹ Jumping at an opportunity from fear of missing out.
✹ Rushing clarity. Grasping action. Pushing momentum that’s not really there.
And then it falters. Or frays. Or slips through your hands.
Not because you failed.
Because you moved before the moment was truly yours.
what the tao te ching says about timing
Taoism teaches that strategy isn’t just about where to go.
It’s about when to move.
“He who rushes into action will fail.
He who tries to grasp will lose.
The sage assists without interfering.
He lets things unfold on their own.”
—Verse 18 (Chapter 5: “The Trap of Trying to Be Good” in The Strategy of No Strategy)
The Tao rewards not ambition but alignment.
What Chinese philosophy calls 天时 (tiān shí)—“heaven’s timing” isn’t mystical.
It’s energetic. Embodied. Unmistakable when felt.
And when it’s not time? Even brilliance backfires.
the opportunity i rushed and the lesson that stayed
It was a major collaboration. Global scale. Big platform. Everything looked perfect.
Except… it wasn’t.
The terms didn’t feel quite right. The timeline was rushed.
My intuition murmured: Not yet.
But I said yes anyway. I didn’t want to lose momentum. I didn’t want to seem difficult.
So I moved.
For a while, it worked…until it didn’t.
The deadlines crumbled. The clarity blurred. The energy collapsed.
And I realized:
I hadn’t been too late. I’d been too early.
I took the fruit before it was ripe.
The Tao taught me this:
If it’s not fully yours by timing, energy, alignment—it won’t fully work.
And if you seize it too soon? You’ll spend all your strength just trying to hold on.
WHAT “don’t move until yours” actually means
It’s not indecision.
It’s not fear.
It’s not passivity.
It’s radical strategic patience.
It’s the discipline to move only when the moment says now.
When the opportunity is not just available but asking for you.
When the yes is not just logical but whole-body, whole-soul aligned.
You don’t need to chase timing.
You just need to sense it.
And when it arrives, move cleanly. Move fully.
No friction. No forcing. Just Tao in motion.
What actually happens When You STOP PERFORMING “GOODNESS”?
✹ You stop abandoning yourself to win others’ approval.
✹ You stop broadcasting worthiness. You begin embodying it.
✹ You release the need to please and reconnect with the power to be real.
✹ You create boundaries not as rejection, but as self-respect.
✹ Your presence becomes whole. Clean. Unburdened.
The Tao doesn’t ask you to be perfect. It asks you to be true.
try this today: cultivate taoist timing
Check for Ripeness, Not Reachability
Are you acting because it’s truly time or because it’s simply possible?
Listen for the Whole-Body Yes
Don’t ask just your brain. Ask your breath, your chest, your gut: “Is this mine now?”
Use the 24-Hour Window
Delay one non-urgent action. Watch what reveals itself in the stillness.
Say This to Yourself:
“I don’t force timing. I align with ripeness. I trust the Tao to tell me when.”
ready to stop forcing and let timing lead?
Read The Strategy of No Strategy ; your modern Taoist guide to navigating complexity, finding clarity, and allowing presence to do what pressure never could.
Inside, you’ll find:
✹ Why rushed brilliance often backfires
✹ How to distinguish pressure from timing
✹ Stories of strategic patience and the breakthroughs that followed
✹ How to feel your moment before you move
Move Only When It’s Yours. Let Timing Do the Work.
Know someone always rushing, always chasing, always just a bit too early?
Share this. Tag them gently.
Remind them:
You don’t have to yank fruit from the branch.
You just have to wait still, steady until it falls into your open hand.