How patient are you?
5 Ways Patience Can Change Your Life
Character building is one of our favorite topics around here. There are so many to learn, embrace, put into practice, but one that we keep at the forefront of our minds at AT is patience. What does it mean? How the heck do we find it? More importantly, how do we hold on to it?!
So how can patience change my life?
For starters, you may miss some of the greatest opportunities of your life by giving up too soon.
How many of you quit the job because you thought there was no other solution?
How many of us have started a new ‘lifestyle’ only to find an empty pizza box in the trash by the end of the week?
After how many days did you decide your fitness routine just wasn’t giving you a ‘bikini body’?
Took a job that was completely wrong for you because you didn’t have the self-confidence to pursue your real passion.
Most goals start with pretty big expectations. There are ‘realistic’ expectations and ‘idealistic’ expectations. Which camp do you live in?
Re-evaluate your expectations- patience comes from understanding that things take time. Do you start a project or a new regimen and expect it to serve you well every day because you wrote it down in your planner? Here’s your wake-up call! Your goals don’t serve you unless you serve them! Expect them to be difficult. Expect them to have a learning curve of “time to watch that YouTube tutorial again *face-palm” Expect to fail. (Check out Failing forward on our Reading List) Expect to want to give up. Expect you won’t get it right the first time. Expect that you might have to change your plan. Expect you will lose some sleep. Expect-YOU ARE HUMAN. Once you’ve got a good grasp on reality, move to step 2.
Time means more than 3 months- Still reading? Good. Listen up. Sometimes we get some magical energy in our life that makes things vibe in all the right frequencies-hooray!! Hold on to this time with all your precious lulu-lemons. We’ve all been there, but these days don’t last forever. Most substantial goals will take longer than 3 months to see to fruition. Sure, you can form a habit in 21 days…but if you go back to old ways, you’ll be right back to where you were in another 21. Please take this to heart dear friends, working your little booty off for a full 6 months and then a year can really add up to huge results! Give it time.
Serve your goals EVERY day and change is inevitable: this is a big one! You’ve got the expectations down and you understand this will take time, but are you willing to put in the work? Whether you want to learn to build your own website, make a career change, recipe or craft, you will not see change if you are only dedicating one day per week to this goal. Not seeing results from your workout routine? Try putting in the work 5 days a week instead of 2 or 3 and watch what happens. Want to get into a new industry? Have lunch with people every week to learn more about what they do day-to-day. If you are consistent in any capacity you will see results-even if it’s just your mindset at first!
Success doesn’t come without road-blocks- There have been many times we have found ourselves unhappy with our careers, our attitudes, our personal choices, or the way our clothes fit. Whatever it is we usually get going trying to change things and then something pops up! Kids or parents get sick, you get laid off from your job, car needs repairs. Hello- life does come first but why do we let it totally side-track us? There will be times spent in the valley below, and your job is to know 1) They won’t last forever 2) You can’t give up. Get back on the bicycle. Get back to the workout routine. Start interviewing again. Your family is #1-its ok to put things on hold to tend to them. Once you can reconcile with the ebbs and flows of the process you can learn the characteristic of determination-or grit. Never give up! Pick up right where you left off.
Wait, wait, wait- Any softballers out there? If you’ve had the privilege of playing you know how difficult it is to hit an outside ball when you’re a fan of the low and inside fastball. Waiting to swing for that outside pitch is grueling! Just like waiting for sometimes we quit simply because ‘its just not working out’. That is the lamest excuse I’ve ever heard! So you’re putting in the work every day on your goal of getting promoted, or interviewing for jobs with only a pile of rejection letters to show. Keep going! The fruits of your labor will one day be recognized. Here lies your patience attitude. It comes from endurance and resolution, knowing that you set out to achieve something and nothing is going to get in your way-not even those roadblocks we talked about.
Learn the area of patience you are most challenged by, put it into action and hold onto it by keeping #1 at the front of your mind! No skipping around that one. Make a mantra for yourself and stick it on your fridge. ‘This to shall pass’, ‘My greatest days are ahead of me, not behind me’. ‘I am worthy of my goals if I put in the work’. Which one do you struggle with the most?
Comment below! We can’t wait to hear what you think about these practices and hope you will share your stories of ‘patient’ success with us.
With gratitude,
Ari
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This is not a sponsored post. All suggestions and ideas are mine. All pictures have been taken by contributers unless otherwise noted. Please inquire if you desire to use any content of this post. Link Back to this post or tag @arianatravelstead for Instagram and @arianatravelsteadblog on Facebook