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How to Be Patient



With spring nearing, it seems that everyone is keen to dive into new projects, hobbies and propel their business ventures. This is both exciting and scary and we try to squish 25 hours into a 24 hour day. It presents a challenge as we set high goals for ourselves and fall short due to not enough time, not enough motivation or not enough help. It can be discouraging to fail at goals we’ve set for ourselves, whether they're surpassing last month’s sales or purging our closet.

We want you to stay motivated, and to continue pushing yourself past your goals. However, one aspect of life that is rarely prioritized enough is the notion of patience. Especially when we’re eager setting goals for ourselves or awaiting last night’s online shopping orders arrival. That age old saying “patience is a virtue” is especially true in trying times such as an ongoing global pandemic, career shortcomings or uncertainty in your personal life. Having patience allows us to cope with change, prepare for new beginnings and invite new opportunities into our lives.

Slow Down

It’s important that we are continually reminding ourselves to slow the F down. We’re basically hamsters on the wheel that is society, and hamsters never run for forever. If you’re struggling to slow down yourself, it can be helpful to have someone to keep you accountable. Whether its a therapist, a family member or a friend– this is a great way to keep you on track and maintain your mental health.

In a society where everyone is late for being early, it causes a lot of unnoticed stress which can have a toll on the body. Having patience requires being mindful of your schedule and understanding when you’re overdoing it.

A good way to start working towards patience is to visualize, or physically write down your schedule for each day. This way you can see what you have coming up and where you need to be throughout the day. It also ensures that you’re giving yourself enough time to travel, eat and have rest in between meetings and work time.

Prioritize Your Health

A lot of impatient people struggle with getting and maintaining good quality sleep and it shows. From dark circles to frustration during the day, we need a good night’s rest in order to function effectively. When you start your morning off by sleeping in, you’ll notice you’re immediately in a rush from the moment you literally jump out of bed. You’re in a constant state of fight or flight because you’re hanging on by your coattails to get through the day. Setting an earlier alarm, or placing your alarm/phone away from your bed, can help you wake up earlier and start your morning off a little slower.

Another way to slowly move into a more patient mindset is by focusing on your diet and hydration. Ensuring that you’re drinking enough water throughout the day is helpful for maintaining energy levels, avoiding fatigue and headaches and balancing hunger cues. A common reasoning for people becoming impatient throughout the day is no eating or drinking water consistently and feeling famished and dehydrated.

Be Mindful

Mindfulness goes hand in hand with patience. It requires you to be present in that moment and understand how you’re feeling and why you’re feeling that way. It helps us identify factors causing impatience and stress, and can point us to solutions.

If you’re looking for a way to slow down or become more patient in your days, focus on being more mindful and present with what you’re saying and doing. It encourages you to look inward and analyze how you react to situations and problem solving techniques for your stressors.

When it comes to being impatient with work or people you work with, a helpful way around this is dialing in on your work. Focus on giving your all to a project (doing your best work and meeting deadlines) and notice how other people and their work tend to dissolve. Suddenly you’re back to being motivated and driven by your own success, not what everyone else is doing around you. If a specific project requires the assistance of another person, whom is lacking on their end, try approaching them in a new way. Learn their communication style and use it to your advantage. If they are someone who is motivated by praise and words of encouragement, try telling them how good they did on a previous project or what you liked about certain work they’ve done. Or, if the other person prefers being approached in the office, while you prefer working from home, try a day at the office and see if maybe they’ll understand where you’re coming from. What’s important is that you acknowledge their work and respect them, while also pointing out the work that you need done from them and why.

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