I grew up a very impatient person. It showed in everything I did. I used to rush to the end of a detailed math problem and miss a word or two that had the clue to unlock the right answer.
“Careless mistake” was the refrain that followed me through those years.
In truth, “careless” was not the right descriptor. Impatient was. I wanted fast progress. If fast progress wasn’t possible, the result was frustration. A lot of it.
In many ways, writing every day on this blog has been the therapy I needed to overcome this proclivity. I debated using the term “unhealthy” to describe it. Like all things in life, impatience is useful in moderation. But I tended to overdo it.
Writing every day for over sixteen years has helped me make friends with patience and progress. I had no other choice. I sought confidence and learning. There were no quick fixes to get to these outcomes. And then again, do you ever “get to them”? You just keep working on them for the rest of your life.
Perhaps it is that long-term view that changed my relationship with patience. Here’s an example.
I was on an exercise routine that involved a swim in the evening through the summer. As fall arrived, it was time to change it up and go back to exercising in the morning.
In the first week of this switch, I wasn’t able to get to exercise in time. I hadn’t budgeted for it and my morning work priority list wasn’t done. So I just made do with a 5 minute workout.
I realized that the sweet spot to get that 30 minute workout was to get going at 645am. I still couldn’t do it in the next week. So I managed 10 minute workouts.
Last week, I got it up to 20 minute workouts.
If I had to guess, I think I’ll be at the 30 minute mark this week or the next.
Now, I could have easily admonished myself for poor prioritization. I know how important it is to exercise. Why am I over-indexing on work? Etc.
But this is where taking a long-term view and making friends with patience and progress has made a difference. There’s no point getting frustrated and over-correcting.
Best to take the first step, then the next, and so on.
Patience.
And progress.
