I am not by nature a patient person.
After my second child was born, I remember visiting my high school best friend with my five- and one-year old. As we were saying goodbye after a fun day together for the first time in years, she leaned over and said, “You have really changed. I do not remember you being this patient!”
Having children taught me many things; patience one of them. It’s always a choice: I could be rushed & frustrated or patient & happy. I choose patience with my kids.
Yet, I still feel impatient in many facets of my life. I want my big ideas to take flight immediately. I want my employees to take on new tasks with speed and enthusiasm. I want each goal in my life to manifest as soon as I set it.
Bob Proctor sends out daily quotes, and I enjoy reading them in my inbox each day. They give me pause to ponder ideas from great minds. This one really got me agitated.
“Adopt the pace of nature, her secret is patience”. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
After reading this quote, I recognize my impatience may be one of my biggest stumbling blocks to realizing my dreams to their fullest. Even though my commitment and enthusiasm around my goals are important, my impatience is actually blocking the good I desire, and I never quite saw it before.
Although I coach women on business, much of what sets the groundwork for anyone’s success is a sizzling goal and belief you can achieve it — even if you do not know how.
Without that in place all my help with the how is like chasing your tail — lots of energy spent and motion happening but little to show for it.
Today, I got the ah-ha that when I set my goals, yet am impatient for their achievement. I am actually putting out energy that I don’t really believe they will happen — at least not as fast as I desire. That is inadvertently sabotaging my affirmations just like a lack of belief in myself or in my goal would do. It is a subtle sabotage but a sabotage just the same.
In fact, most of the ways we derail our dreams are not obvious. If they were, it would be so much easier for us to correct our mistakes. But they disguise themselves in things like enthusiasm and commitment, when they are actually impatience.