Change Will Come - On Patience

While change might be inevitable in life, it often at times does not come in the form or at the pace that we want.

The Change You Want

If you are managing your life properly, you have changes in mind. You have plans to grow and improve. To make yourself and the world around you better.

As we’ve discussed before, many of these things require long term plans. These can take many steps and long periods of time to complete, even if nothing else gets in the way.

However, things do get in the way. People resist you. Things go wrong. Disasters happen. Budgets don’t work out. You must be able to weather these storms with patience and control if you were going to see the changes you want become reality.

The Primary Obstacle

The primary obstacles you will come across on your patch to achieve your desired changes will be, or at least caused by, other people. This could be a family member, a boss, a colleague, or even a relationship partner or friend.

The default reaction for most people when they receive opposition is to get aggressive, even if the person in opposition to their ideas is an authority figure or loved one. This is the last thing you want to do. Not only does it significantly lower you chances of convincing the other person, it runs the risk of damaging the relationship on top of it.

Not everyone is open to change. On the contrary, most people feel threatened by it. If you want to achieve your desired changes, what you need is patience. If people resist you at first, empathize with them instead of criticizing them. Give them time to realize the merits of what you are suggesting. Gradually help them see how it benefits both of you,

In the end, the best tool in your arsenal is patience. Very rarely will you ever achieve what you set out to do by forcing an issue with someone, or by bludgeoning them with uncomfortable facts. Give things time, stay the course, you will see the results.

When Did Your Patience Pay Off?

As always, I want to hear from all of you. Tell us about a time that patience paid off for you.