Don’t Rush the Right Things
Patience is a skillset I've been trying to develop for quite some time. Regardless of where I am, you can easily catch me 5 paces ahead of my wife. So if we're holding hands I'm dragging her along, or I literally walk and then recognize she's not there and then stop and wait... then a little bit later I'm strides ahead again. I'm not in a hurry to get somewhere.... but I'm not being patient either.
I ran my own logistics business for over a decade and my partner lives in NY. After years of working with him and the people around him I picked up this nuance of hanging up the phone New York style....fast. The first time I did it to my wife...trust me I got a call back immediately. Again....I'm not even in a rush....but I'm not being patient either.
While I'm referencing patience in the idiosyncrasies of life there is a much grander scale where we all tend to struggle. Where life isn't what we want it to be... yet. Recently I had Chat GPT tell me my five greatest blindspots.
It's response:
Number four: Seeking transformation, wrestling with patience.
You live in pursuit of growth, for yourself and others. But you often want it fast. In others, in business, even in your own evolution. You’re playing a long game but can get frustrated when things (or people) don’t catch up quickly.
Blind spot: Expecting internal change to move at the speed of insight, when in reality, it moves at the speed of integration.
Thanks Chat.... I'm impatient, I get it. Work in progress.
It is crazy to me how much work patience takes. The valuable things always do, right? Then of course impatience is like the lost puppy that follows you home.
Patience is the quiet strength behind nearly every meaningful accomplishment. It's not passive or weak, it’s an active restraint, disciplined delay, and mature endurance. Patience is choosing not to react in the moment, even when everything in you wants resolution, recognition, or relief ...right now.
In work, it’s the grind without immediate results. In relationships, it’s grace through misunderstanding. In personal growth, it’s continuing the process even when the payoff is invisible.
Impatience is easy. It demands action. It screams, “If I’m not there yet, I must be doing something wrong.” But often, you’re probably doing a lot right, just with the wrong expectations. Impatience is the thorn in your side you've put there by choice. It's the irritability which compounds and feeds on its own energy. It's also a fragrance that smells like crap to the people around you.
Patience is knowing the difference between waiting and wasting. It doesn’t mean inaction. It means staying committed without needing control over the timeline. It's a compliment to yourself, a tip of the hat to your level of self-control. In fact, just like Bond had a license to kill...patience is a license for self control. It's magnetic, it's enticing, it even may cause envy from those who wish they had it.
Sometime in life, we assume what we do is normal across the board. We think the way we operate is the same way other people operate. It's hard to step out of your life and recognize the deficiencies you may have. You may want to take the time to ask yourself....am I impatient? Dig. You maybe more impatient than you've ever realized.
Today’s Forced Challenge: I want you to FORCE yourself to attack at least one of these challenges
1. Zoom Out: Pick one frustration. Step back. Imagine how it looks from a year in the future. What becomes less important? What still matters?
2. Sit With the Tension: Practice not fixing something immediately. Know that you choose when to take action.
3. Mini-Challenges: Choose the longer checkout line. Don’t check your phone during red lights. Small daily resistance builds big internal muscles.
4. Sleep, Nutrition, and Blood Sugar: Low patience is often just low fuel. Stable energy = stable emotions.
5. Reframing: Instead of saying, “Why is this taking so long?” ask, “What is this teaching me right now?”
Patience isn’t about slowing life down, it’s about syncing with its real pace. It’s the discipline to keep showing up, even when progress is invisible. It’s the quiet refusal to panic, chase, or force.
In a world that rewards urgency, patience is rebellion. It’s self-respect in motion. And maybe the real win isn’t just getting there, but becoming the kind of person who can "wait well" on the way.
“Patience doesn’t mean you stop moving. It means you stop forcing.”
-Unknown