5 Reasons success means you have to be patient

“To lose patience is to lose the battle.” - Mahatma Gandhi

Overnight success stories always inspire us. After all, it seems like the ideal scenario! A rags-to-riches story that happens within a short amount of time is often the theme of our teleseryes! It may even be the reason for the Philippines' pervasive “lottery culture,” which rewards bettors instantly (if lucky enough!).

And this must also be why, in the age of innovation, you are conditioned still to prefer instant gratification. Instant noodles, instant friends or lovers from online apps, instant everything!

This idea of success and the want for everything to be instant sadly has made a lot of us search for shortcuts when it comes to accumulating wealth and prestige. Does this shortcut even exist or are you forgetting the virtue of patience?

Here are several reasons why it (literally) pays to be patient.

1. Be patient and you’ll think better.

Having more time equals more opportunities to assess situations and think of alternatives. Instead of doing things rashly, say putting up a business without having a proper plan or testing the market, you can properly plan out a venture with practical timelines.

This article by Forbes titled “Why Patience Is A Competitive Advantage" also promotes the idea of strategic patience. Experts call it “the idea that the impatience the leader feels needs to be harnessed and focused into a method or strategy to follow so that he or she can see progress and feel confident the outcome can be reached.”

This simply means putting all the energy or drive into strategy instead of immediate action to achieve some goals. So next time you make a business or career move, think twice, be patient, and strategize.

2. Patience promotes your well-being.

In your path to success, mind your mental health and overall condition. The study, “An Examination of Patience and Well-being,” shows that patience facilitates goal pursuit and satisfaction, particularly in the face of obstacles. Aside from that, increased fortitude also led to decreased depression.

A study published in Psychological Science, “Waiting for Merlot: Anticipatory Consumption of Experiential and Material Purchases,” also shows that waiting for things makes you happier in the long run, especially if you have mastered this habit.

To do this, you start with something small like waiting a few extra minutes to reward yourself (maybe buy that new iPhone after a promotion) and then move on to something bigger. You will begin to gain more patience as you practice this way.

3. The Philippine culture rewards patience.

Although Filipinos praise overnight successes, most people still consider businesses and other ventures built over a long period to be more stable and reliable. Culturally, you just like someone more pasensyoso over someone considered agresibo.

Culture aside, you can see patience and stability being preferred in the stock market too. More Filipinos would place their money on blue-chip companies, which have developed a good reputation over time compared to startups or new business ventures.

Both young and old would rather wait and choose less risky stocks and just wait to see their gains over time. Maybe you even got your first stock market advice from your parents or titos, who also advised you to play it safe because slow and steady wins the race.

4. Patience teaches us to persevere.

People who have failed in the past have learned the virtue of patience. Did you know that Michael Jordan has missed more than 9000 shots and lost almost 300 games? And were you aware that Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling was rejected by so many publishers before her books became a hit? When KFC’s Colonel Sanders tried to franchise his restaurant, he was rejected 1,009 times.

If these people and any other successful people gave up right away or lost their patience, they wouldn’t be the person they are today.

5. Patience makes better leaders and trailblazers.

Leaders and business owners know one thing: To build an empire, you need to work with many people. And working with a lot of people means that you have to manage different personalities, sets of skills, and personal goals. It's a lot to take on, especially if you’re a person who wants things done right away!

In this article by the Harvard Business Review called “Becoming a More Patient Leader,” they mentioned a survey conducted among US employees during the height of COVID-19 lockdown.

The responses of over 500 employees revealed that patience had a powerful effect on them. When their leaders demonstrated patience, their reports’ self-reported creativity and collaboration increased by an average of 16% and their productivity by 13%.

And we all know that a happy, productive workplace is a recipe for success!

Exercise your willpower with FWD Manifest. Designed for Filipinos who are gearing up for the future now, Manifest comes with a variable unit-linked (VUL) insurance with a built-in investment component. Be patient so you can get bonuses for investing more over time. It also cushions your risk. Reach out to an FWD financial advisor now.