5 Ways I’ve Learned To Become More Patient

Lose weight.

Pay off debt.

Plan a trip.

Start a business.

Find a new job.

It’ll all happen.

Be Patient.

It May Be A Long Road, But It’s Worth It

Patience is defined as the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering.

Patience though, isn’t just the ability to remain calm during delays or troubling times, but also in positive situations as well.

Being patient during delays or times of trouble could be missing a flight, being stuck in traffic, receiving an incorrect order in the mail, or having disagreements with family, friends, customers, or complete strangers.

These are all examples of remaining positive and patient during not so happy or positive situations.

Remaining patient during positive situations includes, for example, a commitment to lose weight, eliminating debt, maybe it’s planning a big trip, or a wedding, or starting a business.

Although these are all seen as happy and positive situations, they too require patience.

Good Things Take Time

Out of the five different situations I mentioned to begin this post, I’m currently in the midst of three of them.

Starting A New Business

Although I previously had a health and wellness business in San Diego in which I provided personal training services, The Wellness Bucket, my online business now, and this amazing world wide community that is beginning to develop, is exciting, all new and foreign to me.

The progress The Wellness Bucket has made so far has been incredible, thanks to you and all of our awesome community members. I love and believe in what we’re creating here together and I have very big and ambitious plans for where we’re headed. I know we’ll get there, I just need to keep reminding myself, one step at a time and to remain patient.

Paying Off Debt

I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m still paying off student loans, 15 years after graduate school. Maybe you’re still paying them off too. To be honest, I’m not even sure how kids are able to afford college these days due to such high tuition costs. That’s a whole other conversation for another time.

My girlfriend Kristen and I recently created a plan we feel very good about to tackle our student loan debt together, since she still has some as well. It’s a plan we both believe in. I realize it’s going to take some time, although the impatient me wants to see it all paid off in a few months. Patience, I tell myself. It’ll happen, just stick to the plan, stick to the budget, be diligent, be persistent, and it will happen.

Planning A Trip

I recently wrote about how having a quest increases our happiness & sense of fulfillment.

My girlfriend Kristen and I are currently planning a year long around the world trip, a quest if you will. Our plan is to begin this big adventure in April 2016. That’s still 18 months away. That’s a long time. I’m excited and ready to go like, RIGHT NOW! 18 months may be a while, but it’s time that’s necessary for us to plan, study, read, organize, pay off debt, and save money for the trip. The 18 months is actually perfect for all the planning that still needs to be done. At this point, I just need to remain patient and get whatever planning that needs to get done, done.

Trust The Process

Make a plan and commit to it.

Some of the best advise I ever received about goals, planning, and patience was, “Plan your work, then work your plan”.

Simple enough.

Not just any plan either, but a plan you believe in, one you’ve researched, one you’ve seen others have success with, one that’s in line with your goals and your values.

If you’ve committed to a nutrition plan to lose weight, stick with the plan. Trust the plan, trust the process. I know we all want results immediately but remember, it took more than a few days or a few weeks to put it on, and it will take more than a few days or weeks to take it off. Remain patient, trust the process, stick to the plan, and the weight loss will come.

If you’ve met with a financial adviser that was highly recommended by family or friends, people you trust, then it’s important that you follow the plan that the adviser has put in place for you to eliminate debt, save money, buy a home, retire, whatever your financial goals may be. My student loan debt didn’t just appear over night so I can’t expect it to be eliminated in a matter of weeks or months. Remain patient and trust the plan, trust the process.

Be Positive, Patient, & Persistent

We can and will achieve whatever goals we set out to achieve if we remain positive, persistent, and most definitely, patient.

There are five steps I use when it comes to remaining patient as I continue to work my plan for The Wellness Bucket, my student loan elimination plan, or my world travel plans. It’s still challenging at times and it definitely takes effort, but these are definitely helping me remain patient and stick to my plans along the way.

Five Steps To Help Ease Impatience

#1 Create Small Goals That Feed The Big Goal

Creating small goals that I can focus on and celebrate along the way, helps to keep me focused versus just the bigger goal that I am ultimately looking to accomplish.

If your goal is to lose 40lbs in one year, instead of focusing on the one year it will take you to lose the 40lbs, shift your focus to a monthly goal. There’s lots of progress that happens just in 30 days. Make that your focus, month after month, versus focusing on the lengthy year long goal.

I have several different student loans. Although my goal is to pay them all off in 18 months, I am focused on paying off one student loan at a time. Not all of them, just one at a time. That’s my approach. Once I have paid off one of them, I will then move onto the next one along with the same thought process, one at a time.

#2 Celebrate The Smaller Milestones Along The Way

I don’t believe in just celebrating the end goal, the end success. We should and must give ourselves credit along the way, recognize ourselves, our progress, our efforts, and our hard work. Celebrate the milestones along the way to your goals, because if there are successes and milestones being celebrated along the way, then you know you’re on the right track and on your way to achieving your bigger end goals.

#3 Document The Process In A Journal

By keeping a journal of everything that’s going on, all that’s happening, all that’s working, all that’s not working, you’re documenting your steps along the way and therefore focusing on your day to day, week to week actions and progress versus your longer, further down the road, goal.

Writing down a goal of losing 40lbs is great, writing it down is a must. In addition to that, writing down what you’re eating daily /weekly and what exercises you’re completing, continues to keep you focused on your daily plan and making sure you’re doing what needs to be done en route to losing the 40lbs.

#4 Creator A Visual Tracker

I have a dry erase board with all my student loan debt information on it that I update as progress is made and debt is paid. I also have one that has the total number of days left before heading out on my one year around the world trip.

Having a constant visual of what you’re out to accomplish, regardless of how far down the road your goal may be, keeps you focused on each day, each moment, on what you’re working hard on every day to accomplish. Tracking my days and changing that number every morning as I drink my coffee, makes me happy and is a nice reminder or what I’m working towards and how today is an important day that will contribute to that overall end goal.

#5 Focus On The Journey

We’ve all heard it said, it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey.

If your goal is to lose weight, you want the weight off immediately. We all want to have our debt paid off sooner than later, I know I do. I know we all want to be successful in our careers and in our businesses as soon as possible. 

It is about the journey and how we got to our goal, what it took to get there, all the sacrifices, all the fun, all that was learned, all that worked, all that didn’t. It’s the journey itself that makes any goal worth talking about once its been achieving. Once you’ve lost 40lbs, the conversation isn’t that you lost 40lbs, the conversation is, how did you do it? How did you lose the weight? How did you pay off that debt? How were you able to travel the world for a year?

The questions, excitement, & conversations will always be about the journey. It’s where all the action happens.

“Good things come to those who wait, but better things come to those who are patient.”

What steps do you use to help you remain patient? Which have you had the most success with? Please share your experiences with me in the comments below. I’d love to hear from you.