“Patience is a virtue.”
How many of you have heard that one before? I think we all have, right?
I remember hearing that a lot growing up in a Catholic home. I think it was because I had NONE and my mom said it to me often. I even remember being told when making my confirmation that I could ask for one virtue to be bestowed upon me and I asked for patience.
I was born high-achieving and impatient. I wanted everything now, not in a snot-nosed bratty way, but in a “I can see this achievement in my mind, so why can’t I do it yet?” I was smart and ambitious. I was willing to put in the work, but I had high expectations for myself and my outcomes. It was frustrating when I couldn’t make things happen and I was always strategizing a way to fix it. A way to get there faster or better.
Is this sounding familiar? If you are a high-achiever like me, then I’m sure it does. I often hear this from the high-achievers I work with. As ambitious people, we do not like to wait for results. We are willing to do our part, but we want to see it happen and we want it NOW.
But our impatience can end of undermining our results. Impatience can stall the process, can make us switch gears too quickly, and it can robs us of enjoying the journey along the way. Too much of the time we are focused on getting what we want and we don’t enjoy the ride to the top. We miss all the scenery along the way and then to top it off we rush on to the next challenge without even enjoying the view at the top.
As a high-achiever, if you want to stay at the top of your industry, you are going to have to learn a little patience. You are going to have to learn how to enjoy the process of getting there. And, you are going to have to rewire your brain to think about work and success differently in order to do all of that. Otherwise, you are going to find yourself exhausted, burnt out, and standing at the top of the mountain wondering, “is this it?”
Think about today where you can practice a little more patience? Is it driving into work? Is it waiting for your cup of coffee? Sometimes you have to start with these small things before you can get patient with your results. Pick one thing in your day where you are going to start flexing your patience muscle and let us know what it is in the comments below.
And if you are feeling burnt out and are ready to shift into a new paradigm of success in order to stay at the top, message me and let’s begin a dialogue of how you can create Sustainable Peak Performance in your life.
Be Well,
Dr. Donna