Patience Is a Powerful Tool..

While you sit in the waiting room of life, patience is a superpower. But by adopting these TIPS, you can run circles around life’s challenges.

It’s OK to fail, to get stuck, or to be not as far along as you’d like. What’s not OK is to pour gas on your problems with self-flagellation and despair. Own your superpower, and you might even find that you enjoy YOUR LIFE

1. Accept where you are.

Rob Bell started one of the fastest growing churches in America, penned a New York Times best-seller, and was named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people. Despite his church success, Rob felt it was time to move on, and prepared to shoot his TV show. But soon, Hollywood stopped returning his calls and overnight Rob fell out of the limelight and into idleness.

Welcome to The Waiting Place, Rob. Pull up a chair; this’ll take a while.

He had cleared his calendar for 12 months, and then suddenly had no reason to get up in the morning. He could have freaked out. He could have started flailing and railing and blaming. Nobody would fault him—he’d traded 100 productive hours a week for a broken promise. But Rob’s wisdom is legendary. He knew that failing to accept his situation would make for a difficult road ahead, and that patience was the prescription. He used the low season of his life to catch up with old friends, not rush back to activity. One of those friends suggested he try podcasting. More than 250 episodes later, his show The RobCast is one of the top podcasts on the planet, and he’s touring the world speaking to sold-out audiences.

2. Patience is not inactivity.

Once you’ve made an honest assessment of your situation, your actions will be much more effective. Patience is simply the mindset of saying “no thanks” to anxiety. An impatient person fights reality, letting it create stress, sapping strength. A patient person accepts what is and acts from that place of power. Accepted that YOU couldn’t fix some situations.

3. Be a Stoic.

“Happiness and freedom begin with a clear understanding of one principle: Some things are within our control, and some things are not.” — Epictetus

Quick—name the first three people you’d call “stoic.”

I bet one old woman with 90-year old, grandmother who survived the war by collecting tin cans and not complaining. Stoicism doesn’t require the stiff upper lip, it simply asks that you take charge of what you can control and let go of the rest.

Things you can control: your thoughts, emotions, words, and actions. Things you can’t control: everything else.

When you get stuck in The Waiting Place, you’ll be tempted to launch a thousand ships against fate. Maybe you get laid off and decide to sue for wrongful dismissal. Maybe your business collapses and you’ll libel your short-sighted investors. Stoics expect and plan for setbacks, and greet each obstacle patiently, not only as an opportunity for growth, but as the raw material they fashion into the ladder that carries them over the wall. Be a Stoic.

4. See low seasons as gifts.

One of the best things that ever happened to me because it gave me the humility, WE needed to balance my aggressiveness.

5. Frustration opens no doors.

The impatient person pushes success farther away. What happens when you badger your boss for another promotion after three months? You signal your immaturity. Effective salespeople know that asking for the sale too soon pushes business away, and that you may need three, five, or 10 meetings to close a deal. Ultimately calm wins.When we get stuck, the attitude we use to cope can either lead us quickly through The Waiting Place, or have us running circles in a deepening groove of anxiety.

6. Patience is natural.

Nature is a master of patience. Trees shed their leaves and bears hibernate to survive winter. The oldest seed to have germinated was radiocarbon dated at around 31,800 years. A healthy birth happens only after nine months.Similarly, art that is rushed lacks beauty. A premature software launch creates bugs and hurts brand value.

Take a moment to think back on your life’s greatest challenges. Were they resolved, one way or another? Of course, they were, and they no doubt taught you valuable skills. Can you even laugh at them now?

A life of ups and downs is guaranteed. Both the good and the bad will pass. It’s natural to be patient, because nature can’t be rushed.You, sitting here reading, are the culmination of a universe in motion for at least 13.7 billion years. Waiting a few more months or years isn’t the end of the world.

7. You will come back stronger.

Robbins accepted where she was and named her problems. She took action and focused on what she could control. I’m not sure if she saw her low season as a gift, but without it, she surely wouldn’t have stumbled on “The 5-Second Rule.”. In a few short years she had published a best-seller and used her “Do it Anyway” philosophy to come back stronger. She’s now one of the world’s most sought-after public speakers.

"Between Failure & Success"

In the personal development world, there’s no shortage of well-meaning reminders for those who haven’t “made it” yet. “Successful people fail the most,” we’re told. “No pain, no gain!” Fair enough, but this cheer leading doesn’t help pay the bills or escape crippling humiliation.

What do you do in that Waiting Place between failure and success? How do you handle the part of the journey between trying and succeeding?Most people choose to thrash around, digging their hole deeper. But an exceptional life demands that we master ourselves. Patience is the antidote to frustration and anxiety, the hydra that robs us of our Great Work.