Waiting occurs when you have an expectation toward something but do not act immediately or perhaps at all (i.e., stay in place).  This is not necessarily a bad thing. 

However, on the other side of the coin, Nike’s icon add campaign of 30 years ago suggested, “Just do it”.  This campaign put the company on the map and took them from a small start-up to a huge large cap corporation. 

Enticing Thought

“Just do it” resonated with the athletic shoe makers target audience.  In essence, activity and waiting are opposite concepts and for an activity-oriented product, encouragement to get going makes a lot of sense. 

How does this work as a general concept?  Is there a time when waiting is a good idea or as a general rule should we just forge ahead?  There is no simple answer to this question – it depends. 

Waiting can result in lost opportunity, on the flip side a precipitous decision could bring negative results.  In any case, the concept of proceeding actively is usually more motivating, hence why the slogan “just do it” resonated so strongly. 

In the balance

Most importantly, aggressively getting around waiting, for example butting into a line or forcing your car ahead in a traffic jam can provide an emotional high, but also could lead to trouble. 

On the whole taking action is more likely to bring results (you need to do something to achieve something) so waiting should be a balanced response where the risk considerations are too high.  

If the risk of action is likely to be detrimental and the negative impact is high, it probably is worth “not just doing it” rather wait and see.