If you’re not willing to be patient you might find yourself missing out.
So often we want everything now and the idea of having to wait makes us anxious.
But remember that life is often like the quote, good things come to those who wait.
It’s not about making time for struggle or enduring something unpleasant hoping good will happen before you reach breaking point.
It’s about learning to be patient and not giving up just because things don’t happen straight away.
Often we hesiste to take action because we’re waiting on a feeling.
For example, you hesitate to lead, speak up or contribute because you’re waiting on confidence.
And so, you wait and put things off hoping that in time the confidence will come. But the confidence may never come. You don’t become more confident by holding back and shying away, it’s something that comes with practice.
So, instead of waiting on a feeling to take action, take action first and allow the feeling to follow.
If something is bothering you, don’t ignore it. Say it now.
Of course there may be times when you need to process and check in with yourself to ensure you’re not making a mountain out of a molehill but that won’t always be necessary.
Often, the reason we ignore things and don’t speak up in the moment is because we don’t want to rock the boat, we’re afraid of what the outcome will be, we’re worried about coming across as confrontational and sometimes we fear we’ll be dismissed.
It sometimes feels easier to say nothing and push the feeling aside. But then time goes by and that feeling grows and often ends up bothering you more than it did initially.
Putting things off also tends to cause anxiety and tension in your body as you’re quite literally holding onto you’re words.
And when you finally do decide to say something you’re reaction is totally out of proportion.
There’s not much use in putting it off, you might as well just say it now and get it over with.
It is so important to be willing to let things go.
Often in order to make room for the new we have to rid our lives of all that does not serve us. But even when we know what we need to do, we end up hesitating and putting off what needs to be done.
And in doing so we delay the new. Then we wonder why our lives aren’t changing or why good things arent happening.
The reason we end up holding on instead of letting go is because we’re scared to be without. We’d rather the comfort of what we know (even if it doesn’t benefit us) than have nothing whilst we wait for change to come.
That mindset comes from a place of lack and I think the best way to overcome that is to force yourself to be uncomfortable. Let go of the things that you no longer need in your life. It may be difficult to trust that better things will follow but the least can you for yourself is to stop holding on to all the that you no longer need in your life.
When people procrastinate they often tell themselves they are waiting until they are ready or waiting for a feeling that will push them to begin.
But the truth is you just have to start. Instead of waiting for some kind of magic to turn you into someone that gets things done straight away, make it a habit.
Any habit or behaviour takes practice to implement and practice to change.
So, instead of hiding behind the label of being a procrastinator start making a conscious effort to be the kind of person you want to be. The kind of person that gets things done sooner rather than later.
I think this phrase rings true for a lot of what is going on in the world right now.
It’s easy to say that if you were in the shoes of another you would make better choices. But the truth is you don’t really know because you aren’t in that position. Furthermore, often when people comment on and criticise others they themselves will not ever get close to such a position .
It’s important to acknowledge what goes into the choices a person makes and remember that people are coming from their own worldview and experiences.
Maybe they’re focusing on the environment, the economy, the wealthy, the poor, mental health or something else. When your focuses don’t align and when there is no crossover, issues arise.
At all times, there will be at least a few different perspectives that you can choose. No one is ‘more right’ than another, it simply depends on what you choose to focus on.
Sometimes when there’s something you want to say the easiest way to bring it up is to wait for a ‘cue’.
My dictionary defines a cue as ‘An action or event that is a signal for somebody to do something’.
In this case the thing to do is bring up a topic that is difficult to speak about or difficult to for people to listen.
However, the problem with waiting for a cue is that sometimes other people will not consider your approach genuine. But furthermore, it stirs up the question of why you’re unable to bring the topic up on your own.
Why do you have to wait for a cue?
Perhaps because you’re not ready to admit how much the topic matters or maybe you just don’t dont have the confidence yet.
It might not be easy the first time but get used to talking about what matters, you don’t need to wait for a cue.
Sometimes good things take time.
But if you’re not willing to wait you’ll end up missing out.
The lesson to learn is that you have to believe it can happen before it happens, instead of getting impatient.
Trust that the thing you want is possible and slowly but surely it’ll happen.
Granted it can be difficult to hold on to what might feel like blind faith but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try.
And don’t get caught up in thinking that the frustration of waiting is your only option.
So much can change in a moment, a few hours or a day.
Before you know it you’ll be onto the good bit.
It’s a new day, a new month, a new year and a new decade.
If you’ve been waiting for the perfect time to begin, that time is now.
Start the blog, writing the book, writing songs, writing poetry, take that class, visit that new city, initiate plans with that person you met recently, start that podcast, share your photography or whatever it may be.
So, often we hold off from starting because we think that we’re not ready or we’re waiting for the right time.
But there is no right time, it’s a myth and you’ll always be able to find an excuse as to why you should put off that thing for just a little bit longer.
Maybe you don’t feel comfortable enough with how your voice sounds to start a podcast. But maybe if you just started the comfort would come with time. Plus most people don’t like the sound of their own voice when they hear it back, so you’re not alone.
The difference is they choose not to indulge in that feeling because they know that they have something worth sharing.
If you’ve been waiting for to start, start now.
Because you’ll never be ready.
When it comes to fear the mistake we often make is trying to wait for it to go away.
It probably won’t.
But there you are saying no and putting things off because you think that by doing nothing the feeling will go away.
Instead how about try leaning into that feeling (I think Stacey June said something about leaning in on her podcast and maybe she got it from Brene Brown).
Anyway, an important lesson I’ve learnt this year is that you can’t bypass stuff so embrace it.
If not you’ll just end up making excuses and nothing will ever get done.
