Impatience is a wonderful trait to have. It means you are a mover and a shaker. You naturally estimate the time it takes to reach a goal. You want success and you want it now.
Or yesterday.
The problem is… much of the world doesn’t keep your same time.
TL;DR Here is a short video of this blog post, “Are You Impatient? Is it Helping You Or Hurting You?” in case you don’t have the time to read it.
“The wisest are the most annoyed at the loss of time.” ― Dante Alighieri.
How do you make sure the world stays on track without driving you nuts?
Impatience is a Virtue, but how bad in your restlessness?
Tell me if this is you…
• Do you drive fast or make lane changes often?
• Are you drawn to systems that create shortcuts?
• Do you look for a shorter line while you are already standing in line?
• Do you tend to be blunt and straight to the point?
• Is waiting for water to boil torture?
• You’re a biter not a sucker when it comes to hard candy or ice.
• Have you found that you hit Refresh... Refresh… Refresh… when waiting for an email?
• You yell “Go! Go! Go! at the person in front of you when they don’t start IMMEDIATELY moving when the light turns green.
• You cannot stand a slow turning driver.
• Are you a nodder or leg bouncer in a meeting?
You are destined for greatness. ThinkGrow.org believes the most impatient people are also the most successful.
You won’t wait for success to come to you.
The Downside To Being Impatient
You are probably a perfectionist too. Quality is important to you. Never will someone say that you are not a quality person. But sometimes impatience causes a rash decision that costs you.
In business, shortcuts are often appealing to an impatient person. They can sometimes add on weeks of extra work that you could have spent on your original plan.
Impatience in driving could lead to fast driving and risky lane changes. While, you probably haven’t gotten into an accident doing this, the risk is certainly there.
Lines are very dramatic for an impatient person. Whether it is driving or standing in one, a line feels like pure torture. There are many times that taking an alternate route just to get out of traffic actually ends up adding on more time.
But you feel better because you are moving. You are heading towards something instead of being stuck still.
How to Turn Impatience Into Success
Here’s where impatience becomes tricky:
You have your eye on the end prize. You want to be at the end of the finish line and not waiting to begin running.
Waiting forces your attention away from the present. There’s nothing you can do about the future, except create an action plan to get there, but there’s everything to do about the present.
Here’s a Universal secret that many people have not figured out; Time likes attention. When someone focuses on the end race while neglecting the now, the rest of it gets jealous and slows down on purpose.
Okay… so maybe that’s not an exact Universal law, but time does slow when you are focusing on the pot to boil.
You probably have heard that you should focus on the now. It’s great to preach but few dare to actually live it. Live like moments are precious. Use each moment to your advantage.
Actionable Plans
Are you stuck in line? Check your email. Post on social media. Send a message to someone you care about and just say you were sending a quick text to say, “I’m thinking about you.” You will have made the recipient of that text very happy. You treated your moment in line like it was precious.
It’s not easy to suddenly start to appreciate the present, no matter what the situation is. But it is possible.
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