“So many people tiptoe through life, so carefully, to arrive, safely, at death”

― Jermaine Evans

I

n my work as a consultant, I have interfaced with two types of clients. The first client I ever worked with has recorded massive success in their pursuit. Their cause was and has always been typified by absolute commitment and faith that it will work. When it does work, they keep nurturing and innovating and spending big on their projects.

The other client I worked with did not want to reinvent the wheel, so they kind of copied and pasted what the first client had. That is a laudable and brilliant move. The only problem with such clients is that they start bench-marking their success with the market leader. They want to start producing the same results as the market leader in the shortest time possible. They have no idea how much thought, time, failure, trial and error as well as commitment has gone into what works.

The Sweets Without the Sweat

Frankly, many people are like that. People are interested in what others have and have no idea what sweat blood and tears it has taken to attain it. We live in a world where we want instant results. We do not want to pay the price for thinking, planning, failing and trying over and over again. We just want to wish, point at it, claim it and viola, it’s ours! That is why a host of us are always subscribing to miracles. There are actually very many people who are spending very many hours in prayer (nothing wrong with that) seeking miracles over what God has already said needs to be done.

Listen to me: [ictt-tweet-inline]You will not arm-twist God so you can circumnavigate the natural laws and principles so He gives you a miracle,[/ictt-tweet-inline] however much you fast and pray. God set laws and principles in place and you will be successful to the degree that you use these to your advantage. Now, does that mean that we can and should not pray? Do not get it twisted. Prayer is absolutely critical in life, but if we are using it as the primary vehicle of “getting things from God”, we have thoroughly misunderstood it and misused it and misinterpreted it. But I digress!

The Most Dangerous Trait

[ictt-tweet-inline]The most dangerous trait that I see in the world today that is killing purpose is impatience[/ictt-tweet-inline]. I have seen it at work in my own life. I have myriads of projects that are gathering dust because I was impatient with them. My life was structured in such a way that I wanted what rewards immediately (isn’t it why we take jobs with a salary?), what rewards in a straight forward way, and what rewards in a predictable and consistent way for years to come. In other words, impatience comes because we are looking for certainty. We are looking for the predictable that can guarantee our comfort unhindered.

So we get scared and get impatient. The other reason why we get impatient is because of greed. Like I have already shared, people want instant results. People want to circumnavigate the process but get the reward. People have failed to understand that the most important part of accomplishing something is not the reward that we get, but the person that we become due to the process. And I believe this is the core reason why God only promotes those who have been proven and have been qualified. As it says:

 “And whom He foreordained, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified” -Rom 8:30

It’s Always Going to Be a Process

So God revels in the process. We cannot afford to be impatient. The greatest secret for accomplishing your purpose therefore is in patience and persistence. If you can just get this statement out of the whole article, it would suffice.

Now, make no mistake about it, there is a place for impatience in pursuit of purpose. This comes at a time when we had our timings set for something to happen but there is delay. This kind of impatience is great because it injects urgency and what I call “Holy Discontentment” over our purpose. It is the measure of how passionate and committed we are to the vision.

The following are some of the things you can do to stem the tide of impatience in your life.

1. Clarify Your Purpose

I am yet to find purpose that was not tied to a person’s life itself. The moment you accomplish your purpose on earth, there is no more reason for your presence here. Now, if you have not clarified your purpose, it is possible to become very impatient with projects that seemingly are looking so long to you in bringing fruits. Purpose puts all your activities in focus of impact. Furthermore, you understand that at times, impatience comes because of selfishness. Purpose being a self-less endeavor gives you resilience to keep pushing on until it is done.

2. Focus on Substance and Not Gratification

When we talk about substance, we are inherently talking about impact. My pastor calls these “Things of eternal value.” Things of substance are what will create your legacy. A football match over the weekend is not something of substance. You cannot plan to purchase a 64 inch TV for the sake of those football matches. There is absolutely nothing of substance in them. Now, when it comes to impatience, it is very easy to give in to this trait if what you are focusing on does not give you gratification. Learn to balance quick rewards over things of legacy. Put your life in perspective of legacy and not gratification.

3. Choose a Minimalist Life

Impatience is a result of having so much to do and so little time (seemingly). Therefore, we tend to want to tackle the things that are moving, those that give us instant impact and fruits. In the process, we never really get out hands on the real and important aspects of our vision. Leading a minimalist life will put your patience into great and sharp perspective.

4. Have a Long Term View of Life

If you take a look at oil, gold and diamonds, these precious things from Mother Nature were formed over a long period of time. We live lives in such a way that we are only interested in lunch and supper and end month. We need to start learning to think 50, 60, or even 100 years from now. This kind of vision will put your impatience in perspective. 4. Focus on Substance over Gratification

5. Be a Consummate Planner

I cannot over emphasize this. You see, when we do not walk through our purpose on paper, chances are that we might not be able to extrapolate all its boundless possibilities. As such, despair, apathy and impatience can easily set in. A consummate planner however gets excited because they not only are able to see the big picture and the end result (however long it will take), but also they have in front of them the needed strategy to get there.