Setting Goals

It may be one of the world’s oldest clichés, but patience really is a virtue. Our greatest achievements are accomplished over time, with considerable dedication and perseverance. Neither of these qualities would be possible without patience. “Good things comes to him who waits,” as the old saying goes. The secret to waiting is patience.

Patience is the ability to wait for an outcome, instead of insisting on having that outcome at once. Patience is the ability to bide your time while all the forces that you cannot control align themselves to help you accomplish what you cannot do alone. To cure the affliction called instant gratification, all we need to do is develop patience. But how?

We can start by realizing that patience is not just a virtue, it’s a skill. Moreover, it’s a learnable skill, a skill that can be mastered by anyone. And patience is one of life’s most enjoyable skills because it allows you to relax, to regain your self-control, to restore a sense of well-being and balance - even in the midst of chaos.

Patience allows you to rise above the turmoil and confusion of a hectic life and understand that there are forces at work far beyond what you alone can master. If you’re willing to wait for these forces - in other words, if you’re patient - they can be made to work for you, instead of against you.

But how do you learn patience? The same way you learned every other skill you now possess: through practice. Specifically, you practice waiting.

The next time you have to wait for something, think of it as practice. Think of it not as a waste of time but as a way to use time to your advantage. Think of it as if you’ve been given a chance to develop a skill that, once mastered, will bring you the kind of joy and peace of mind that otherwise you could only dream about.

Once you embrace patience as a source of strength in making your wishes come true, and you embrace waiting as a way to develop that strength, then delays will only encourage you, setbacks will only strengthen you, and time - perhaps for the first time in your life - will finally be on your side.