Impatience, Anxiety, Fear, and other negative emotions are powerful levers that often drive us to “push for closure” on a problem before a viable solution is realistic — this forcing of the issue then typically results in a whole host of negative consequences…
- We fall short of our goals.
- We often make the problem worse than what it already was.
- And sadly we rob ourselves of a chance to live the best life possible.
But it doesn’t have to be that way for you. In this article, we’ll talk about some strategies you can use to overcome your impatience and achieve your goals.
Impatience Destroys Goal Achievement – Examples
Let’s consider some examples about this problem.
- You want to get rich but instead of seeking the advice of trusted counselors and investing your money wisely, you decide to speculate on some ‘hot stocks’ a buddy told you about, dumping more than 50% of your savings into the play — only to see the stock flame out and take your nest egg with it. (Easy come, easy go).
- You want to get married and have kids, but rather than take the time to get to know yourself first, or date a variety of people to learn what you like/don’t like, you rush into a relationship with someone you met online (“because he’s just so dreamy”), get married in a few months, and get pregnant shortly thereafter — only to learn that you’re actually not that compatible, you fight all the time, and you can’t wait to file for divorce. (At least there’s other fish in the sea).
- A bunch of your friends at work invite you to join them for a mud race next month – you’re not in shape now but since one of your goals is to take better care of yourself, you agree to join them – only you don’t take the time to do train for the event and instead just decide to wing it (“after all, how hard can it be?”). You end up tearing your ACL while jumping down from one of the high walls and get laid up for 6 months, during which you balloon into a fat blob which spirals you further into depression. (Ouch!)
What can we learn from these examples?
Impatience isn’t our friend. It’s time we came up with a plan for dealing with it so let’s do just that.
How to Deal with Impatience
When you have a plan for dealing with impatience, you realize that you can overcome your ‘patience’ problem and still achieve your goals.
The first step is to take the time to understand your goals in life. The second is to build solid plans for achieving them. After that it’s really just a matter of executing on those plans and letting life unfold in due course. Major goals are not achieved overnight. But they ARE achievable. The formula is simple…
Consistent Action + Time = Results.
When you know your goals, have our plan, and are actively working your plan, then you just need trust in the process, be patient, and know with confidence that things WILL go your way when the seeds you planted are ripe for harvesting. This is key wisdom so humor me as I try to drive it home with you…
Just like with any seeds, you can’t expect to them to grow without a little TLC from you… and time.
Overcoming Impatience – Examples Revisited
Let’s turn back to our examples and come up with some better strategies…
- If you want to build your wealth, educate yourself on the topic, seek advice from trusted advisors, and invest your money in things YOU actually use.
- After years of trying to do things by myself, and following hot tips (which never worked!), I changed my approach and began investing in things I actually used — that’s what led me to invest in Google at $85/share, Amazon at $300ish, and Facebook under $30. Don’t get me wrong, I still make mistakes, but a lot less often. I also work with advisors to guide me now too. The result: I’m on the path to financial freedom.
- If you want to get married and have kids, take your time getting to know your potential spouse first. What’s the big rush? Date for a few years and really make sure. Get to know each other at every level — you’ll be glad you did. As for the kids, enjoy married life for awhile, build up your finances, get your foundation in place, and then have the kids.
- The result: you’ll all be better off for having waited, because you’ll have had your ‘go-out’ fun, you’ll be wiser, you’ll be in a better position financially to provide for them, and you’ll have built up a great bank of wisdom that you can share with your kids (setting them up for success in life too!).
- So you’re gonna run that mud race? Please do a bit of research first. You might want to check out my YouTube Tough Mudder library (you’ll find 50+ vids on the topic with tips on clothes, shoes, obstacles, and more). I can’t promise you wan’t get hurt, but at least you’ll know what you’re getting in to! Here’s a pic of me in action for your amusement…
Achieving Your Goals – With Action… and Tony Robbins
Success guru Tony Robbins talks about the importance of taking action as the primary way to achieve one’s goals. Here is one of his many videos on the topic:
In addition, Tony has also developed what he calls the “Massive Action Plan” – you can read more about it on his website here: https://www.tonyrobbins.com/career-business/how-to-make-a-massive-action-plan-map/
Dealing with Impatience – The Wisdom Way
I always love it when the wisdom of great teachers matches up – such is the case here. You’ve seen the opening quote from Lao Tzu, you’ve witnessed what Tony Robbins had to say, you know the famous line from Ben Franklin (“Haste Makes Waste“), but let’s take a look at a few other tidbits of wisdom on this topic.
John Wooden on Impatience…
And lest we think impatience is just a modern-day problem, think again. Consider what King Solomon had to say on this topic…
It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way. (Prov 19:2)
The plans of the diligent lead to profit, as surely as haste leads to poverty. (Prov 21:5)
Sage advice – if we take it to heart.
Overcoming Impatience – What’s the Bottom Line?
Prepare yourself for success.
Take action.
Reach your goals.
Rinse and repeat again and again.
Before you know it you’ll be living your best life right now.
What to Read Next?
For more on the subject of planning and goal achievement read the following…
https://thathelpfuldad.com/5-power-ful-tools-overcome-lifes-challenges/
https://thathelpfuldad.com/use-your-time-wisely/
https://thathelpfuldad.com/slow-and-steady-wins-the-race/
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If time management was easy, we’d all be super productive and we wouldn’t need all those To Do Lists we love to make (but hate to actually do). Unfortunately the ability to use time wisely is a challenge for many people and most of the To Do lists we make just end up in the trash, half done at best.
” which assigns a number value to each task in terms of it’s “Importance” (I) to the LONG-TERM goals of your life — the most important is given a 1, the next most a 2, and so on.
That Helpful Dad 