Patience as a Millenial

I know patience and millennial seems to be a complete contradiction. We were raised to believe that the world is our oyster and we can be absolutely anything and achieve everything we set out to do and our parents tried to teach us patience, but let’s be real, sometimes you need to learn how to practice that in a world moving at a crazy pace and the expectation of success that has been affirmed since birth.

Infinite patience is a test for any generation, but it is a bigger challenge because our generation is facing challenges that the previous did not. Everything moves at hyper-speed, technology, innovations and trends and as such we have evolved to function in an incredibly high paced world. So think about it this way, you are moving at hyper speed at absolutely everything, yet to achieve the ultimate success you need to both move at hyper-speed yet ground yourself in patience. This is much, much harder than it seems. When you add social media and the #madeit posts, the pressure to achieve the impossible in an impossible amount of time is intense.

So how do you learn patience in a world where expectations are so high? Let me tell you a story from my childhood that forever changed my world view. I was about 10 and my dad came back from Nairobi with a paint set, you know those water paints that had 12 colours and a clear cover (simple yet magical)? Yup those ones. He told me this was for my sister, but that mine was in Nairobi and he would come with it the next week. Cue tantrum….. I wanted that paint set and I wanted it bad, I cried, complained, screamed… You know full out drama. My dad tried to tell me that my paint set was 10 times more amazing and I would love it, I just need to be patient, wait a few days, but I refused.

My tantrum was victorious and I got the paint set, but my dad told me that when the next one came it was now my sisters’ and If I shed even one tear I would get whooping. I didn’t care one bit, I had won, the paint set was mine and I couldn’t be happier…until my sisters’ paint set came. My good people, that set was the size of a small briefcase, it had oil paints, water paints, pencil colours and crayons and at least 4 different brushes!! I was crushed, crushed! I have never been so humbled in my entire life, and I couldn’t even say a thing, lest I get a whooping.

That lesson has never left me because at that moment I realized that crying for that mediocre set, blocked me from getting the set to end all sets. I realized that good things come to those who wait and that is the philosophy that I live by. Create a vision of your ultimate paint set, whether it is in your career, business, relationship, finances and stick to it; don’t let anyone try trick you into accepting the mediocre because time is passing by. Work hard, because patience alone does not guarantee success, and look beyond the surface because all the “instant successes” are not really instant, you just never really see the roots that show the wounds, challenges, pains and disappointments. And finally, keep to your lane, your journey is unique to you and everyone has their road to take and pace to keep. Basically, live your own life, compete with yourself!

That paint set lesson changed my life!