Patience Really is a Virtue

"Our patience will achieve more than our force." - Edmund Burke

​​We have all heard that patience is a virtue, but what does that mean when it comes to the world of small business ownership? Should we just sit back and wait for opportunities to come our way? What if we wait too long and miss the opportunities all together? This article will help to clear the air and provide you with an understanding of what being a patient business owner is really means. Read over the information carefully and understand that these details apply to us all on some level. If we take into consideration that we must be patient when operating our businesses we will become more successful than if we pursue each of our goals like a bull in a room full of crystals.

Over time human beings form habits that can have both positive and negative influence in our lives. While we logically understand this, we may find it difficult to replace the negative with the positive. So, what can we expect from a lack of patience in our daily routines and responsibilities? To begin, we fuel our desire to quit. Impatience is one of the driving forces that leads to frustration, stemming from delaying our fulfillment of immediate gratification. As this feeling builds, we lose interest in the things we are doing, and eventually stop pursuing the things that once motivated us to excel in life.

How, then, can we maintain our focus to become a successful business owner? This takes commitment to changing our habits. As business owners, we must focus our attention on the entire picture while devoting our time to multiple tasks at once. As we do this, it is very easy to fall into a pattern of frustration resulting in losing sight of our goals. The positive in this, however, is that it can be easily noticed with a little self-reflection, and altered by appreciating the milestones achieved as we continue toward our final goals.

By appreciating our smaller accomplishments as business owners, we begin to understand that every action we put into our businesses results in some level of progress. More importantly, these actions put us closer to achieving our goals. Most times, when striving to achieve our goals, we become so overly focused on what we have to do that we lose sight of what we are actually doing. One way to overcome this mindset of, "I have to do this, now", and the stress that comes with it, is to have a very clear understanding of what you want as an end result.

Starting from the end and working your way back helps to lay a firm path that connects you to your goals. You'll begin to understand what actions will need to take place in order for you to take the next step. Additionally, you may want to write down the ideas you have along the way. Doing this will help alleviate the stress associated with trying to remember all the details of your action plan. As with anything, trying the shoot from the hip method usually results in overlooking important details that influence the success of your plan. Instead, invest in an organization tool that bests suits you as an individual.

​Organizing your plans and goals will help with practice of being patient while reducing the feeling of being overwhelmed by all the projects you have in place. Using online calendars, smartphone applications, or even a classic daily planner will ease the mind and organize the steps you must take toward your business goals. Be specific regarding your actions for the day, and focus only on the current day. Take time in the morning to refine your objectives, and provide yourself with padding on either side of your scheduled events. Additionally, only schedule a practical number of events throughout the day that you will actually be able to complete. Being overly ambitious about what you think you can achieve during the day can leave you feeling unfulfilled and focused on the items you didn't actually complete.

This leads directly into the approach of practicing patience as a business owner. Patience provides you with the ability to be consistent with what you are doing. Approaching your goals with the same level of effort and energy will keep you motivated and driven to accomplish your next set of goals, and will allow you to remain dedicated and focused on the task at hand. The process becomes full-circle in that being patient will result in lower levels of stress, higher levels of productivity, and a greater return in sales and customer satisfaction. By simply being more patient, your future can become much more successful.

Brandon has been focusing his attention on the world of small business since 2007, and admires the strength and dedication it takes for small business owners to mold and grow their dream into something they only ever imagined. The blogs provided on the EC Sales website are created from his personal experiences within the world of small business, and he shares them as a way of offering support and insight into what he thinks makes the best...the best