I’ve been impatient as long as I can remember.
I have become frustrated at having to wait more than two weeks to hear back from an application for a job or academic course, I have freaked out and had to distract myself from someone who has refused to text back instantly and I have finished a full series of a tv show in a day rather than pacing myself.
While it’s not completely my fault (I do seem to have the attention span of a hyperactive poodle), it can be one of the most frustrating things when trying to commit to anything.
Impatience can lead you to think: “I’ll just quit and start something else. This isn’t working.” When really, it’s not working fast enough.
Freelancing, or becoming self-employed, is one of the greatest examples of an activity that needs patience.
Potential clients will not email you back in the same day, or immediately.
You can wait for weeks to hear back from an editor you pitched to, and you can send a proposal to someone then never get a reply. You can work hard on the proposed project and fail to hear back about revisions to that work within the original timescale agreed upon.
The worst wait of all is the slow build to consistent work. It does not happen in a day, or a week, or even two weeks. For some, it can take months and years. It is not a quick process to sustainable success.
A lot of people will talk about having the drive to commit to something fully. It’s all about action.
You need to get up, take the day by the shoulders and shout your goals into its face.
You need to work 24/7, hustle, and try to be the best you that has ever existed.
It’s too much.
What’s worse is if you’re only selling action, it makes it seem like if you do all these integral actions then you will achieve your goal quickly. There are people out there making money by telling you “insider” secrets that will supposedly make you rich fast…
If you just do all these things as quickly as possible, you’ll succeed.
But as the saying goes, Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither are your dreams.
For example, unless you’re the quickest typist to grace this planet then you will be unable to write a novel of 80,000 words in a day and then get it published that same day and then sell it!
The world is not instant. It doesn’t care how bad you want something, it will give you it when it wants to and no amount of ‘hustling’ will make it come any quicker.
Maybe it’s a side effect of our instant gratification culture but so many people are burning out by feeling they have to do everything right now. When they don’t see instant results from their intense hard work, they burn out.
There’s no reward seen for the sweat and tears they’ve put in.
Even with jobs that you really want, all of these things exist outside of your control.
People in the HR departments of big companies have a lot on their plates and will often work through the candidates slowly — there is a process that they have to follow. These processes aren’t instant and they take time. Yet when you’re waiting for a response, it seems like a century has passed when it has actually been a couple of weeks.
Patience is the unrecognised virtue of successful people. Yes, Walt Disney was fired due to a supposed “lack of imagination” then went on to become one of the most profitable animators in the world. Yes, Oprah was fired twice before becoming the amazingly successful woman today. Yes, Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard and to create a business that flopped before creating Microsoft.
These people are used as examples of how getting back up after a set back is the best thing to do. They were so driven to pursue their dreams that they didn’t give up.
But these things take time. Success takes time.
The people we hold up as examples of perseverance are also examples of patience. They did persevere but they were also patient. They knew that eventually they would get there and it wouldn’t happen right now. They had to wait and work hard for a long-term goal.
Consistent success does not happen overnight. Success that will be sustained takes time and effort.
It takes patience to know that you are on the right path and while you’re not exactly where you want to be, it’s being able to recognise it’s only for now. This won’t be forever.
I’m still learning how to be more patient, but at least I know I will get there eventually.
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