Some people meander lazily, while others forge ahead with energy and urgency. It’s usually the apparently ‘lazy’ ones who end up achieving more.
It’s natural to want to get to your goals as fast as possible. But the key phrase here is “as possible”. That means no faster than possible.
When you try and rush ahead you skip steps. Fail to lay vital foundations.
Or you do a botched job and leave parts of the structure you’re building shaky and liable to collapse at any point. You’ll find the later additions simply won’t stand on top if the earlier bits you’ve done are shoddy work.
Instead, the fastest way to do things is to let it take the time it takes. And that requires patience.
Not easy.
But as Epictetus said:
“No great thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen.”
So patience is not just desirable but required if you want great results.
In fact, patience is a lot of what separates those who do great things from everyone else.
We see all their impressive achievements. The results of the time and dedication they’ve put in.
But there are hordes of other people we don’t see who also put in time and effort in the past… And ended up with nothing to show for it.
The difference?
It’s easy to let ourselves off the hook by assuming that it simply comes down to a lack of talent. But I’d contend that it’s much more about patience vs rushing.
The ones who worked hard for no reward were impatient. They rushed. They didn’t leave time for their actions to blossom, bear fruit, and then ripen.
Instead they skipped ahead. Leaving behind a trail of missed steps (that would later block their progress). And shaky foundations (that would make all the later stuff they tried to build on top impossible — leaving them scratching their heads as to why they couldn’t get it).
The successful ones took another route.
They were willing to start out slow and methodical. They didn’t panic when it seemed like others were making faster progress — they knew that was a mirage.
They stuck with the fundamentals for longer than felt comfortable or necessary. And they took great care before moving on to the next thing.
So be like them.
Have patience. Go slow.
Take pleasure in watching your work blossom. Then, ever so slowly, ripen.