“If you genuinely want something don’t wait for it. Teach yourself to be impatient.”
This is one of my favorite pieces of advice I give people when they ask me about the secrets of success. The extraordinary belongs to those people that make it. Frankly, I’ve never seen patience as a virtue. For as long as I can remember I’ve been in a hurry to get things done. It’s part of my nature. And I believe it’s a major factor in why I’ve been able to build four companies.
I was always impatient, in fact, going back to my school years. I couldn’t wait to get out. I couldn’t wait to enter the real world and continue to develop my own business. That’s why, with my father’s blessing, I quit school at the age of 16. Fortunately, it became one of the best moves I ever made.
I just knew in my inner core that I was destined to achieve success and I threw myself into building my first internet company with an unbelievable passion. It was something I genuinely wanted to do. It meant everything to me. It was something I wasn’t prepared to wait around hoping would happen. I knew I had to make it happen myself. I was naturally impatient, but you can teach yourself to be impatient—and get things done. Passion makes everything possible.
After all, why put off until tomorrow something that can be done today?
Just think of it. Every time you get a project completed today instead of tomorrow you have a 24-hour advantage. In today’s hyper-competitive, super-fast-paced world that kind of head start can make the critical difference between being first—or last; between being the winner or the loser.
For most people I’m sure the word “impatience” serves up negative connotations.
A dictionary definition, however, puts the word in a better light saying that it means an “eager desire for relief or change; restlessness” or “intolerance of anything that thwarts, delays, or hinders.”
So I believe it is impatience that is the virtue. I believe it’s an attribute that every entrepreneur needs. And it’s an attribute that can be acquired with just a little bit of effort. Simply tell yourself that you won’t let anything get in the way of your vision; of your goal. You have the drive and determination to make it to the top and you want to get there sooner rather than later. Every time you allow a roadblock to stay in place it delays your journey. Why tolerate that? I sometimes get out of bed 8 times a night, just so I can send out an email, because I don’t want to take the chance of forgetting about it tomorrow. That kind of attitude is ingrained in my DNA.
Being impatient doesn’t mean settling for second rate because you want something done faster. It doesn’t mean that you’re irritable or unreasonable. It just means that you appreciate life is temporary and that if you want to accomplish everything that you desire to accomplish you can’t afford to wait around.
So teach yourself to be impatient. Time is too precious to let things wait.