Patience they say is a virtue and a fine quality that everyone should work to build and cultivate. Whether in your relationship with others or even in your business dealings, you can benefit a lot from having patience. A lot of problems and issues in modern times can be traced to a lack of patience. In a similar vein, many success stories have also been built on the shoulders of patience, hence the importance of patience.
Could it be that you are someone who constantly struggles with being impatient and tend to rush into things?
It might be that you’ve found this impulsive attitude of yours causing you harm and pain at some point in life.
Well, if that is your situation, you need not lose hope or feel like it is impossible to solve.
Everyone at some point has had to battle with the tendency to be impatient.
As harmful as being impatient in our personal life can be, showing this rather poor trait in business is even costlier.
Sadly, a lot of business owners have had to learn this lesson the hard way; seeing impatience cause them financial ruin.
Some have missed the chance to take great business opportunities by settling for less or the wrong ones because of impatience.
Well, in this article, we are committed to guiding you on the process you can take to build your patience.
Before then though, we will review what patience means, why the quality is important, and what generally causes impatience.
These would serve as a needed background and foundation upon which we will build the actions you need to build patience.
Patience – What Does it Involve?
In simple terms, patience can be defined as the ability to endure difficult circumstances.
It is that ability to tolerate suffering, problems, or even delays without losing your cool, getting anxious, bitter, or angry.
To put this in clear perspective, can you recall the last time you faced a delay or difficult problem that is not of your doing but someone else’s.
How did you handle it?
Let’s say you are to catch a flight and after getting to the airport, you go the announcement that the flight has been delayed.
What would be your initial reaction?
Well, there are different types of reactions to this; some might get very angry and lash out, some might get anxious and worried, and then some can patiently wait for when the delay will pass.
It is this latter, our ability to be calm in the face of troubles and endure without complaints is what patience is all about.
In the business world, there are various ways in which patience can play out and you need to build this if you lack it.
Sometimes in the line of business, we face uncertainties or outrightly difficult situations.
You might need to build patience to wait out a difficult time, with the hope that things will get better.
It might also be that you are having difficulty training a particular employee and this can be very frustrating.
In such a situation, patience is equally a virtue that can help you stay motivated and committed without losing your belief.
We will now look at some of the benefits that come with being patient.
How to Build Patience – Why is it Important?
Have you ever wondered why this phrase is made: “Patience is a virtue”, and what it means.
By saying patience is a virtue, it simply means that the quality of patience is a very admirable one, a state of moral excellence.
And to be sure, a lot of people have seen firsthand just how important building the quality of patience is.
Here are some of the reasons why you should work on building patience as one of the qualities you possess:
Patience Helps You Make Better Decisions
True, there are times when immediate actions on a matter or decision are needed.
However, more often than not, patience can help you to make a more informed and better decision.
The reason why that is so is that patience allows you to calm down and carefully analyze situations and things.
Someone impatient for example can quickly jump into a business agreement or a perceived opportunity without considering the pros and cons.
At the end of the day, this might turn out to be a poor decision.
On the contrary, a person who is patient would carefully look beyond the face value of things and people.
Spending much time in careful reflection can help such one in making more informed choices and better decisions.
Patience Helps You Stick to Your Long Term Goals
Another benefit that comes with building patience especially as a business owner is that it helps you stick to your long-term goals.
Long-term goals are what they are, as the name implies; goals that are achieved in the long run.
That means when in the process of working to reach such goals, you might meet with minor setbacks or disappointments.
A person who lacks patience at such times might fall off the race or even drastically redirect his/her goals.
On the contrary, someone who has build patience would see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Such an individual would stick to the path, knowing that such momentary setbacks are just temporary.
Hence, he can stick to his long-term goals without wavering.
Building Patience Helps You Build Another Great Skill; Persistence
Generally, someone who is impatient would struggle with being persistent in the completion of tasks, projects, and responsibilities.
Just as we said earlier, there are bound to be challenges and difficulties on our way to the top.
When those difficult times arrive, one of the skills that can help us triumph is persistence; which is trying again and again and never give up.
For you to build this skill, you first need to build the quality of patience.
It is this that would make you focus on the reward and patiently persist in your methods and strategies.
Patience Helps Improve Our General Wellbeing
Can you remember the last time you got impatient?
Perhaps you were not satisfied with the way a driver was driving his car in traffic and you had to yell at him.
How did you feel at that particular moment and even the moments after?
The chances are you did not feel good about yourself and this also affects your physical and mental being.
When we are impatient, we end up doing ourselves more harm than good because of how negative emotions affect us.
On the contrary, when we are patient, we learn to control our emotions and avoid negative feelings.
This would in turn put our thoughts back in order and help us enjoy a peaceful and tranquil feeling.
Building Patience Helps Preserve Relationships
You know the good thing about relationships generally is that the same principles work for different types of relationships.
A romantic relationship for example where one or both partners is impatient is already headed for disaster.
The same can be said of a business relationship where you deal with employees and vendors.
If you are an impatient person, you will hardly make and retain many friends.
This is because the trait of impatience distances people from the one who has it, and it ruins relationships.
As you go on your business journey, you will have people “stepping on your toes”.
The secret of remaining calm and endure under such difficult circumstances is building the quality of patience.
Patience Generally Increases your Chances for Success
In the game of football, it is often said by some top managers that the secret to breaking down tough opposition is patient buildup.
There are times when the opposition comes to a match to sit back and not allow a better team to take control and win the game.
If the better team should match their opponents’ energy and rush, their chances of winning become slim.
Sometimes, the patient buildup play might be the secret to unlocking even the toughest defenses.
The same is applicable in the business sphere.
The challenges you sometimes face can be likened to stubborn opposition.
With patient building, you can avoid or even conquer these challenges, and end up victorious.
Even in the face of frustration, it keeps you focused on the prize and never loses your motivation and self-belief.
Building Patience Contributes to Your Inner Peace
The quality of patience should not be confused with just managing the situation you find yourself in because there is no choice.
If that is the mindset, then you might be enduring your situation without joy.
Patience is the perseverance with joy.
And that is why you see people who have this beautiful trait smiling all through, even in their adversity and life challenges.
That is because patience comes with hope and joy, and beyond the present problems, you see better solutions.
How to Build Patience – Some Common Causes of Impatience
Knowing that patience is a virtue is one thing, but it is a completely different thing to build such patience.
To be sincere, building patience in itself is not an easy task.
This is because there are various factors, both extrinsic and intrinsic that cause impatience in humans.
Here are some of them:
Technology
Let’s guess; You never thought that technology would be talked about in a negative light right.
Well, we have been able to achieve a whole lot with technology and that is a pure fact.
However, some researchers have said that impatience in this modern age can be linked to the advent of technology.
Using technology has exposed us to getting things done easily and getting instant results many times.
Because of this, humans have developed that mindset that it’s easy to achieve what we want to achieve.
While this is true in some cases, it doesn’t always work that way.
Hence, our experience with technology has increased our need for instant gratification in other aspects of life, and as a result, impatience.
Meeting Deadlines
Time is also another reason why we sometimes get impatient.
When a task or project is time-bound, as it should always be, we might tend to get impatient when running behind schedule.
It could also be that we have an appointment and already facing difficulties that would not make us meet up.
At such times, it is possible to get impatient.
Slow Progress or Lack of Results
Sometimes, it might seem that we are putting a lot of effort into a task or assignment and not seeing fast progress.
It could even be that we are not seeing any results at all from our endeavors.
If that should happen, it can cause us to become impatient as we strive to change the narrative.
Other People’s Success
One of the main reasons why a lot of youths today engage in criminal activities and other vices is pressure from their peers.
Sometimes, looking at other people’s journey and progress while it seems we are not going well compared to them can cause us to be impatient.
If you focus on this, you might lose the sense of your duty and responsibility and start to exhibit signs of impatience to get there.
Short Attention Span
Another cause of impatience is having a short attention span.
Someone who has a short attention span struggles to focus on one thing for a long period.
Hence, when such a person is required to do this, impatience can set in which is revealed in frustration and loss of interest.
Stress
Sometimes, our lack of patience might just be borne out of the current state we find ourselves in.
Or why do you think that people get impatient more and yell at other drivers when returning from work in the evening?
It is because the stress of the day is taking its toll on them.
Therefore, when we are stressed out or having anxious thoughts, it can make us impatient.
How to Build Patience – Practical Tips that Help
Granted, some individuals are born with the knack for patience as this can be part of one’s makeup.
However, most of us who do not have the knack for this can learn how to be more patient.
Here are Eight (8) practical measures you can take to build your patience starting right away:
Adopt a Long Term Vision not Just Short
Many business owners keep making that mistake, which is focusing on the interim rather than on the long term.
And that is how poor and bad decisions come about.
One way in which you can build patience is by adopting a long-term view or vision of things especially your goals and decisions.
When you are faced with making an immediate decision, before rushing into it, think about the long-term prospects.
Ask yourself what the effect of such a decision would be in a year, 2 years, 3, 4, or 5 years.
When you do this, you might find that you can exhibit more patience and make a decision that works better long term.
Make It a Practice to Wait
While it is true that we always want quick results and instant gratifications for things, walking on that path would not build our patience.
On the contrary, it would only make us impatient and more impulsive.
Therefore, another practical measure you can take towards building patience is practicing having a waiting attitude.
Sometimes, deliberately make yourself wait a little while longer for things you would usually want to get done immediately.
It might be allowing a few minutes to pass before eating the meal that you already served before you.
When you make this a practice frequently, you will see how your patience would grow steadily.
Learn to Pause for a While
In a bid to build patience, you need to understand that not every action deserves an immediate reaction.
This principle works effectively when dealing with people who tend to get on our nerves or make us angry.
The first tendency is to reply immediately or even blurt out in anger as well.
However, to build patience, it is good to practice the habit of pausing for a while and taking a deep breath.
When you do this, you will see that you have more self-control and can exhibit the virtuous quality of patience.
Look for Ways to Reduce your Stress
As we earlier mentioned, an increase in stress levels also has a corresponding increase in impatience.
Hence, while you work tirelessly, you also need to seek out ways to reduce your stress.
There are different stress management techniques that you can adopt.
It could be as simple as taking a walk during work hours, sleeping well, and also meditation.
All this can help you reduce the stress you are going through, and make you more patient.
Focus on the Lesson/Blessing in the Difficulty
It might sound cliche, but it is said that in every disappointment, there is a blessing in disguise.
Well, it works out that way in many cases.
When you are met with difficulties and challenges on your journey, it is good to look for the lesson and/or blessing in it.
It might be that the challenge is teaching you a basic life survival skill that you do not have before.
Perhaps it is also offering you a different way of getting to the destination that wasn’t initially open to you.
Focusing on these can help you build patience rather than getting frustrated.
Be Conscious of Previous Episodes of Impatience and Remind Yourself of Them
Usually, when one is impatient, there is always a pattern to what triggers you and the results.
It is good to always playback these situations to know what is common with them.
When you are self-aware of this, it helps you to avoid situations that would test your patience.
Also, it is good to reflect on the result of your impatience in the past.
Most likely, the results weren’t positive, and this in turn can help you avoid such situations again.
Learn to Switch Between Activities
Sometimes, your lack of patience might be a result of a short attention span.
When you cannot concentrate on one activity for a long time, you might tend to get impatient.
Well, a practice that can help in this situation is switching between activities.
If you’ve been on one thing for a long time, you can try something else.
This would allow you to focus on a different thing, clear your head and build patience.
Focus on the Reward, not the Process
Lastly, the secret to your building patience is focusing on the reward in store for you and not necessarily the process.
When you always have your expected reward right in front of you, it is easier to endure problems and adversities.
Yes, the process might seem long and difficult, but the fine reward makes it all worth it and energizes you to build patience.
Final Thoughts – How to Build Patience
Patience is indeed a virtue as we’ve seen so far.
This fine quality can help you be a better person, a better family man, and of course a better businessman.
If you work on building the quality of patience, you will see how happy you will be with yourself and also improve your relationship with others.
In addition, your journey to success would be shorter.
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