Is Patience the Missing Link to Success in Your Business?
Do you like waiting?
I know I don’t. It is not something we typically like to do. Waiting feels uncomfortable and creates dissatisfaction with where we are in life and with what we already have (even when we have a lot).
Right now, it feels like I’m in a period of waiting. I feel like I should be doing more to further my business, but something holds me back from my grim-determined striving of yesteryear. Somehow I know that this waiting is necessary, even though it is counter to what, in my mind, I think I should be doing.
My logic tells me I should be hustling, shaking the trees to find clients for my new program so that my course will actually run in a couple of weeks. But my body, energy, and heart all tell me when I’ve put in enough work, and when it’s time to turn in and call it a day.
I’m in a period where I can’t yet see the results of my tireless efforts and want to push hard to see those results. But I also feel the need to listen to my body and stop when it tells me to. I’ve decided to listen to intuition over logic, and it feels like a test. It’s a test of my faith in the Universe to line things up for me now that I have laid the groundwork and pursue my goal without the negative emotions associated with the hustle. It’s a test of my belief that everything will turn out as it should. If I truly believe in this principle, then why would I ever doubt that the effort I’m putting forth will take me where I ultimately need to be?
Marisa Murgatroyd, Founder of Live Your Message, calls the period right before the deadline to enroll in a new service or program, the “Marketing Mindfuck.” This is when you’ve got only hours left to reach your sales target, and you’ve expended a lot of effort to get sales, but you aren’t seeing the fruit of your labor. You begin to think all is lost, and you start to doubt yourself and your abilities. You might even question your decision to become an entrepreneur in the first place.
The “Marketing Mindfuck” is what I’m resisting right now during this period of intuitive listening and heeding. I’m resisting the Mindfuck while attempting to balance what I feel I should do (or, more precisely, not do) and what I think I should be doing.
A year ago, I would have favored the thinking, striving, hustling approach over the feeling, listening, and allowing tack. However, I am more acutely aware of the pull of head vs. heart, and my tendency now favors listening to my heart and pausing, waiting, and receiving, in due time.
Waiting is an underrated tool. Life has taught us to push, go, and relentlessly stay in action to reach our goals. But, as David G. Allen said, “Patience is the calm acceptance that things can happen in a different order than the one you have in mind.”
Drive and determination are essential to success, but there are times when this pushing has its limitations, when it results in unnecessary stress, pushing potential clients away, and diminishing returns.
We are connected to everyone and everything, though we don’t usually think in these terms. The success we desire is not only up to us to make happen, it is also up to those we interact with and with whom we are attempting to serve. People need to be ready to receive what we have to offer. Sometimes, this takes time for events in their lives to unfold to gain awareness of what they need and how our product or service can help them. Sometimes it takes time for events in our lives to develop to show us what we need to change or how we need to change to help them see our service or program’s benefits.
Hard work, determination, consistency, and perseverance are keys to having success in life. But sometimes, as counterintuitive as it might seem, patience, faith, and allowing things to unfold can ease your way over that finish line.
