Any ambitious, results-driven small business owner knows the challenge that comes from being mired down in a process.
Whether it involves clarifying one’s brand, narrating the company’s core story, or articulating the benefits of your service, working to completion on business development projects such as these, can feel as if you’re walking through quicksand.
Yet, there is a purpose in the process — a reason for being “stuck.”
The Harder I Work…
Agonizing or pushing to maneuver through the interferences often proves to be ineffective. The harder you work toward clarification, the deeper you sink into an inability to get through it.
Attempts to move beyond the gumminess of these perplexing pieces essential to completing the series of actions creates frustration. Before you know it, self-doubt creeps in. And, in a desire to “just do it,” we disconnect from the entire transaction — hit “force quit” — and move onto another piece of business development.
But, wait…there’s more.
What Are You Waiting For…
The drive for ever-increasing speed makes a stalled process particularly challenging.
We’re in a hurry. We live in a time of ever-quickening technology developments that cause us to stand in front of the microwave and yell, “hurry up!”
For the most part, we live in an instant society. Don’t believe me? Just ask Siri!
And, while you’re chatting it up with Siri, ask her for tips on patience.
pa·tience (ˈpāSHəns/)
noun: the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset.
Whether it’s a better direction, greater focus, or improved insight to advance your idea, patience is a powerful ally to help you through the process.
Got Patience?
Patience is sitting quietly and paying attention to that which is around you. Attentively putting the pieces of the puzzle together. Completing the process to avoid having to repeat the process.
Like the SBBOD (spinning beachball of death) on my Mac, my operating system is overloaded and is causing other functions to slow (metaphorically speaking). Repeatedly pounding the ‘enter’ key only magnifies the problem. But, if I wait patiently, it often resolves itself.
Good Things Come to Those Who Wait…
To coin a well-worn phrase…
Those who have developed the ability to be patient when things aren’t clear have better relationships and experience better mental health.
The ability to wait calmly also helps us achieve our goals. Wait! What?!
A study conducted by Sara A. Schnitker, associate professor of psychology, uncovered some very intriguing insights linking patience to goal achievement. Read on…
“…patient people of all stripes reported exerting more effort toward their goals than other people did. Those with interpersonal patience in particular made more progress toward their goals and were more satisfied when they achieved them (particularly if those goals were difficult) compared with less patient people. According to Schnitker’s analysis, that greater satisfaction with achieving their goals explained why these patient achievers were more content with their lives as a whole.”
The Bottom Line…
It’s not fun when you’re stuck smack dab in the middle of a process — especially when developing something critical to your small business success.
However, if you’re willing to bravely wait with yourself — and the process — you’ll uncover tremendous power and purpose.
