We are all goal-chaser nowadays: We want to see the results even before we start working on something; If an activity does not promise to give us something in return, whether a skill, a certificate or a successful future, we are not going to lay our fingers upon it. These conceptions all come down to one basic thought we all share: We think we have to do everything in our lives efficiently and effectively to reach our “goal” in life and be successful.
However- Our world does not work this way.
Most of the time, the goal-achievers or successful people we see are the ones who act on things intuitively and persistently, staying in a discipline silently for years until they reach where we see them now. Here is a lesson we can take from them: Success is all about intuition and patience. As intuition leads us to the right place, patience allows us to stay there.
As we all know, “timing” is crucial to succeed in every business, even in every aspects of life. Patience can enhance our intuition to see the right moment, what we call the “perfect timing”. As psychiatrist and author of Emotional Freedom, Judith Orloff nicely put it: Patience is “an active state”. It is “a choice to hold tight until intuition says, ‘make your move.’ It means waiting your turn, knowing your turn will come.” Intuition is our best guide that pull us to the right direction and make the right choice, but without patience, it cannot unveil itself to us especially in the hectic world we live in nowadays.
We always neglected the power of patience. We see pausing for a moment in life as a passive state, meaning that we don’t know what to do next. Yet, scientific researches have shown that with patience, this “pause” is actually a positive and powerful cure to a lot of emotional disorders we suffer from day to day, which are also the obstacles to our true success. In a psychological research on patience and well-being conducted by Prof. Sarah A. Schnitker, the findings show that there is a correlation between increased patience and decreased depression, which further leads to the increased positive affect relative to a control condition. Apart from excitement, stress is what we always experience as we embark on an unknown journey to achieve something invisible to us yet. Patience plays an important role here, telling us that we have time to be in the process towards our own success. It is especially useful when dealing with moments of disappointment and frustration, as it allows us to take a step back, finding the reaction we like towards these unavoidable moments in life.
Intuition is what leads us to success, but patience is what allows us to stay there. Many achievers have reached the top fast, but roll down even faster. Why? Because Rome wasn’t built in one day. If you don’t have patience in the field you aim to be successful and work persistently on it, your success won’t have a solid foundation, and however high it might seem, it will easily crumble down whether due to your lack of passion or inconsistent effort. What’s more, without a good state of mind and body, you won’t be able to enjoy the success you have been striving for. However sweet the fruit is in the end, it will only appear to be tasteless bites to you. Thus, not only is patience the very first step to success, it is also the key to make the success we achieved long-lasting and enjoyable.
So now, take a deep breath. Trust your intuition. Be patient. After all, what’s the fun if you can reach the top of the hill in one step? It is the process that makes the view on top exquisitely stunning. Enjoy.