Simple Takeaway:
One way to tell how successful something will be is how much of an investment goes into it beforehand. Anything worthwhile requires significant investment over a long period of time. Successful people have “patient urgency” – they’re okay with working urgently on something that won’t happen for a long time. So, it’s a good thing if your dream is taking forever.
In 2004, research found that the average attention span was around 2.5 minutes. In 2012, it was 75 seconds. Now, it’s around 40 seconds.
In other words, in just 20 years, the average attention span decreased by more than 70%.
We’re all losing patience. We want what we want and we want it as soon as possible.
That’s why we get frustrated when the vision we have isn’t making progress as quickly as we think it should.
We often get tired of the waiting and resign ourselves to going through the motions.
The bad news is, there are no shortcuts. The good news is, there are no shortcuts.
The book The Self-Made Billionaire Effect says a character trait of successful people is “patient urgency”.
Successful people tend to have the ability to wait for the right time to launch, but they urgently work on and perfect their idea until the right time comes.
Most people have the urgency part down. It’s working while waiting that becomes so difficult.
All throughout history you can find example after example of people who were successful only after years of hard work. You’ll have to look hard for that part of the story though, because that’s not the sexy part and therefore it’s the part that gets skipped in most success stories.
If you want to do anything of any significance it’s going to take time.
Overnight success is a myth. Anything worthwhile never comes easy.
Malcolm Gladwell says it takes 10,000 hours of practice before you can be truly great at something.
If you spent two hours a day working on a skill, it would take you over a decade to be truly great at it. Even if you spent 10 hours a day working on it, it would still take you nearly 3 years to be close to an expert level.
Keep your head down, be consistent, and don’t get discouraged.
Don’t obsess over something for the sake of achieving your goals faster. Slow down, enjoy life, and take every experience as it comes.
Don’t look past the here and now, because you’re right where you are for a reason. Learn today’s lessons.
There’s a necessary process that must take place before anything of any significance can happen. Carry the load a little at a time and don’t give up.
Let me tell you a quick story to illustrate this point:
One day a professor stepped in front of her class, filled a glass full of water, raised it where everyone could see, and asked, “How heavy is this glass of water I’m holding?”
Students shouted out answers ranging from eight ounces to a couple pounds.
The professor then replied, “The absolute weight of this glass doesn’t matter. It all depends on how long I hold it. The longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.”
She continued, “Stresses and worries in life are very much like this glass of water. When carried for short periods of time, they have relatively no effect. But the longer you try to hold them without balance and rest, the more damage they do.”
We can carry a lot more than we realize as long as we do it a little at a time.
The most practical way to move a mountain is with the right tools, lots of help, and a whole lot of time.
I know you want so badly to be where you envision yourself going. But give yourself a break, back up and gain perspective, and baby-step your way to your goals.
Remember: Your wife, kids, family, friends, co-workers, and community need all of you right now, not sometime in the future.
So next time you feel like your dream is taking forever, try to remember that’s a good thing. You’ll be all-the-better for it when the time comes.