Apple Pie Deadlines: How Baking Taught Me to Stop Waiting for the Perfect Time
We need to talk about pie. Specifically, the apple pie that looked like a train wreck but tasted like heaven.
1. The Myth of the “Perfect Moment”
Here’s how baking usually goes in theory:
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You’ll wait until you have the perfect recipe.
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The perfect apples.
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A clean kitchen, the right tools, the exact mood.
And then? You never make the pie.
This is exactly how people treat their dreams. They wait for “perfect timing” and then… 2025 shows up and they’re still talking about writing the book, starting the business, or finally changing careers.
2. Messy Crusts Still Work
The pie I made last fall had a crust that looked like Frankenstein’s elbow. It was uneven, cracked, and kind of sad. And yet when I pulled it out of the oven—steam rising, cinnamon scent filling the room—it was magic.
Here’s the lesson: a messy crust is still pie. A messy first draft is still a book. A messy first product is still a business. Waiting for it to be perfect kills more dreams than failure ever does.
3. Failure Tastes Sweet
Half the fun of pie is in the mistakes—the filling bubbling over, the crust breaking apart, the too-sweet or too-tart surprise. Failure can be delicious if you let it.
What if you treated your career, your art, your next big move like pie? Messy, gooey, imperfect, but still good enough to feed people.
4. The Deadline Trick
Bakers know this: pie doesn’t wait forever. Leave apples too long, and they rot. Leave dough sitting, and it hardens. Life works the same way. If you don’t act, the “ingredients” spoil.
Deadlines aren’t your enemy—they’re your secret weapon. They force you to stop scrolling, stop doubting, and start baking the thing.
Bottom line? Stop waiting for perfect. Burn the crust. Spill the filling. Do it now. Your apple pie life will be messy, but it will be sweet.