Waiting isn't always the hardest part. Most of us spend our entire lives waiting for people to give us things. We email the resume, then wait for the right person to find it and offer us a dream job.

Usually, waiting is the easiest thing we can do. Waiting for a recruiter to call us is easier than calling companies on the phone. Waiting for the casting director to call us back so we can land a breakout role in a television pilot. Waiting for someone else to give us the go-ahead, so if we fail, we feel less responsible.

Tom Petty had it wrong; waiting is one of the easiest things we can do. And in so doing, the risk matches the reward.