Be Patient With Yourself

Hi readers, I know it has been a while but I’m back and hope to be back for good. Today I wanted to talk about “patience”. According to the dictionary, patient means being able to accept or tolerate delays, problems, or suffering without being annoyed or anxious. Being patient in 2022 is extremely burdensome given the fact that things move at a much faster rate than ever before. Think about it, at some point in time, humans had to hunt for food and then make a fire for it to cook properly. Now we have food already pre-packaged and all we need to do is just throw it in the microwave for a minute or two. A lot of us have become more and more impatient over time. We forget that everything cannot be done in a minute like food in a microwave.

You might be asking yourself where I am going with this but here is what I am saying. In the early stages of our lives(specifically ages 0-18), there is so much change/promotion going on frequently. You advance from grade to grade each year and if you attend college, it is the same thing as well. However, once school is done, life begins to slow down a lot. Positions you saw yourself in when you were younger typically last a year. In the real world, you might find yourself in the same position for some years without any form of promotion or change and that can be discouraging given the fact that you were once used to advancing so frequently.

The grind to get to where you want to go(promotions, advancements, etc) in adulthood might be slower but this is where patience comes in. I heard a quote on a podcast a couple of months back and it has stuck with me. It said, “Be patient with results, but be impatient with the actions that it takes to get to those desired results that you want”. The hard truth is that we don't have much control over the results but what we do have control over is the steps taken to get those results that we want. Life is like a marathon because of how long things take but simultaneously, you have to sprint to action. Sprinting into action can look like, making those calls, doing the research, networking, creating content, and so much more.

“Be patient with results, but be impatient with the actions that it takes to get to those desired results that you want”

Now I know there is a huge emphasis on hustle culture at the moment and the constant comparison on social media doesn’t help either. Remember that people are only showing their highlights and not the full picture. People want to give off the illusion that they’re constantly working and all it does is make you(the consumer of the content) feel inadequate and not doing enough. For example, I’ve seen cases where people will tell you to sacrifice sleep for success and I am here to tell you please do not do that. You can work hard all while getting a full night's rest, you just have to use your time while you’re awake wisely. There is no need to risk your health to be successful. If you are, then I highly encourage you to pivot and try a new strategy.

Here are some ways to develop active patience:

1. Be in the present moment

Focus on what is right in front of you and accept where you currently are without any form of judgment.

2. Relax Realize that things take time, and nothing comes easy or fast.

3. Learn from those you want to be like Listen to people’s stories, more than likely they will tell you how long certain things took and that should encourage you to know that you’re on the right path.

4. Take a break from social media Social media can cause us to be impatient because we only see people’s success highlights and not their actual journey. Constantly seeing what everyone else is doing can cause you to feel like you’re not doing enough.

5. Enjoy the process more than the outcome Make sure you enjoy whatever it is that you’re doing. You want the pursuit of the prize to be greater than the prize itself. Granted everything isn’t always going to be great all the time. Take time to learn everything that you can along the way and meet people who can help you.

Thank you again so much for reading, I hope this encourages you to be more patient with yourself and know that you’re doing a great job. Don’t let up but don’t burn yourself out either, you are doing just fine.

Until Next Time,

E. Ibadin