Bottom line: as an entrepreneur, Lady Laide learned that career pivoting and building a business cannot wait for the perfect moment, because life itself is the real deadline. This week, I had an entirely different article planned. I was going to write about the behind-the-scenes world of filmmaking, specifically focusing on the real economics of how movies get made. I wanted to analyze why it is such a struggle for producers to recoup investments, why actors want to be paid more, and the complicated financial realities that audiences do not always see on screen. I had my outline ready and my thoughts organized around budgets, streaming platforms, salaries, and long-term sustainability in entertainment.
Then, on Sunday, my aunt passed away unexpectedly. Even typing those words still feels strange. While she had some health challenges, none of us thought death was near, or that this week would become a week of mourning. Suddenly, the article I planned to write no longer felt important. What stayed in my mind instead was the overwhelming realization that life is an emergency. I don’t mean this in a fearful or chaotic way, but rather as a reminder that time is moving whether we choose to move with it or not.
Death Has No Respect for Our Plans
Death is incredibly rude. It does not ask for permission, check calendars, or wait until people are emotionally ready. It completely disregards unfinished dreams, unwritten books, unreleased films, unrepaired relationships, or future plans. It simply interrupts.
I think that interruption is part of what makes grief so difficult. It is not just the loss itself, but the sudden realization that life can completely change right in the middle of ordinary plans. One minute you are discussing next week, next month, or next year, and the next minute, everything is different. This week reminded me that many of us live as though time is an unlimited resource. We postpone important things, assuming there will always be another opportunity later, but life does not move according to our assumptions. While we cannot control death, we can control how fully we live while we are here by using our gifts, taking action on the ideas that matter to us, loving people well, and moving with real intention.
The Tragedy of Unused Potential
My aunt was brilliant. She loved language, and she was an intelligent, thoughtful, and incredibly eloquent person. She had the kind of mind that could sharpen ideas and improve conversations instantly, and she even reviewed scripts for me sometimes because she had such a strong grasp of storytelling. She had books she planned to write, ideas she talked about constantly, and wisdom that still had room to grow. Now, all of those unwritten pages are gone with her.
That reality has stayed with me all week because the saddest thing in life is not failure; it is unused potential. We lose too many ideas that never get attempted, stories that never get told, and talents buried under fear. Dreams get delayed so long that they quietly disappear while people wait for a permission slip that will never come. We assume we will eventually become disciplined, focused, brave, or ready, but that “eventually” is never promised.
Recognizing “Productive Procrastination”
Time does not pause simply because we do. Whether we are productive or procrastinating, focused or distracted, time keeps moving forward. That is what makes wasted time so expensive. This does not mean rest is bad or that slowing down is wrong, but many of us spend too much time delaying the very things that matter most to us. We procrastinate on critical goals while giving our energy to things that do not actually move our lives forward.
The tricky part is that procrastination rarely looks like laziness in driven people. Instead, it usually masquerades as high-level activity. We overthink and overanalyze decisions to avoid just making them, or we constantly prepare and tweak plans without actually starting. We consume instead of creating, watch others instead of building our own path, and tell ourselves we are just waiting until we feel ready.
This week forced me to look at my own life and ask if my daily actions actually align with my priorities. As I build a global studio, my daily actions need to reflect that scale. Saying something matters is completely different from structuring your life around it.
How Discouragement Quietly Slows Your Pace
If I am honest, I have fallen into this trap too. There are moments when I feel frustrated that certain things are not happening as quickly as I hoped. Exhaustion, disappointment, financial pressure, or general uncertainty can quietly slow you down. It isn’t because you have officially quit, but because discouragement subtly changes your pace of operations. You stop pushing as hard, creating consistently, or taking bold risks because you are tired of the friction.
Building something meaningful is genuinely hard. Building films, businesses, systems, teams, and visibility requires immense effort, especially when the vision in your head is much larger than your current reality. Discouragement quietly slows people down until they no longer recognize their own drive. But being alive itself is the opportunity. A failed project cannot stop your creativity, a rejection cannot stop your momentum, and a difficult season cannot become your permanent identity. If you are still here, there is still room to build, pivot, learn, create, and start again.
Momentum is built in the Quiet Seasons
This lesson especially matters for creatives, entrepreneurs, and visionaries because our work often requires long periods where results are not immediately visible. There are seasons where you are building, pitching, learning, and rebuilding completely in private. During those quiet stretches, it becomes very easy to slow down emotionally because external validation is missing. However, true momentum is always built before visibility arrives.
We treat tomorrow with a casualness we simply cannot afford, assuming there will always be another quarter or another opportunity to become the person we are capable of being. Because of that, I have been challenging myself with a new rule: if an action takes five extra minutes, do it now. Send the email, write the page, record the video, make the call, or start the proposal. Small actions compound over time, and the primary difference between people who move forward and those who remain stuck is consistent movement, not talent.
The Bottom Line
As I build Lady Laide Studios into a global media company, I am realizing more and more that urgency matters. I am not talking about anxiety, burnout, or the toxic culture of burning yourself out, but rather a deep awareness that life is short. Industries are moving, technology is changing, and opportunities are shifting. If we stay still for too long, years can pass by in a flash.
We honor life not only by grieving the people we lose, but also by fully using the time, gifts, opportunities, and purpose we still have. Stop waiting for the perfect time, assuming there will always be more time, or letting discouragement steal years from your life. Align your actions with your priorities, and make sure your life reflects what matters to you.
Keep building, keep creating, trying, moving, and becoming. Life, after all, is an emergency.
Until next week,
Lady Laide
*This newsletter is dedicated to Adetoun Adeshina