The beauty of patience

A lack of patience is something I have struggled with. I always wanted things to change straight away and it hindered me. Here's why being patient is important.

With the amount of information out there and people telling us to do things this way and then someone else saying to do it that way, it can become overwhelming. I believe deep down a lot of us want to make positive changes in our lives. Whether that is to become healthier, earn more money or improve your relationship. We all want to change in some way. Some people will be scared to admit it. Don't be that person. Appreciate the fact that you want to become a better version of yourself. Chasing that and going on that journey can be the most fulfilling pursuit you can take.

When we start to look at changing and implementing the things required to change, we want ways that provide quick results. We want change to happen immediately. We have become accustomed to instant gratification. We don't require patience anymore. Feeling a bit down? Go on TikTok and get an instant hit of dopamine. Want to order takeout? Go on Uber Eats and it will be there super quick. Need to buy something? Go to Amazon and it will be there the next day. All these things have allowed us to become accustomed to getting things quickly. This translates when we try to change ourselves.

You see, positive and meaningful change doesn't occur overnight. Let's use the gym as an example. You cannot expect your body to change that much after a few weeks of training. Yet, people think like this. They want quick results. If they don't get quick results, they give up. That's why people are always looking for the quickest way to get a six-pack or the best diet to lose belly fat quickly.

What people need to appreciate is the power of patience and consistency. I've talked about it consistently before and how powerful it is. However, I haven't talked about patience much. Patience is the partner to consistency. These two things are the bedrock of anything you want to do in life.

If you understand and accept that building more muscle and becoming healthier requires you to be consistent and patient, the whole process becomes easier. Focus on getting into the gym consistently and understand that if you keep doing this, and being patient with it, the results will come your way. This is the art of being patient. Results and positive change occur over time. Small consistent changes occur to massive payoffs. Yet, people strive for quick results. They do not have the patience to see if they stick to doing something for 20 minutes a day over a year, the change once a year has passed would be incredible. Say you wanted to learn a language and set a goal or practice it for 20 minutes 5 times a week. You had the patience to understand that this might take you a year to get good at. Imagine how good you could be at speaking that new language after a year.

I struggled with being patient. I wanted that job I dreamed of straight out of university. I wanted to graduate as soon as possible, wishing my uni days away. I wanted to finish my sports psychology training so I could become a qualified sports psychologist. I wanted to have a healthy-looking body. What I didn't have was the patience to do these things properly. I rushed through university, not making the most of the opportunities that were presented to me. I became frustrated and wanted to give up my pursuit of becoming a sports psychologist because I hadn't got a job in elite sport yet. I lost track of how many times I had started and then gave up going to the gym. All because I wasn't patient enough to stick with it and understand I would see results later on down the line.

There are more examples of how being impatient hindered me. I hope you realise that patience is a skill we all need to utilise. For any meaningful change, we need patience. Trust the process. Have the discipline to be patient.