The Power of Patience

Time is a concept ever playing out in our minds and our lives. If only we knew the impact of time in comparison to what we want to do in life — our dreams, our goals — often times we play right into our human nature of impatience and impulsiveness which can be combatted with planning and preparation.

Opportunities come and go so we must remain diligent in not only seeking opportunity but also allowing opportunity to present itself.

This requires patience.

Patience in the allocation of energy.

Patience in the accumulation of capital.

Patience in the accumulation of information.

Patience in the accumulation of power.

Patience in the concept of time.

So, whatever it may be in your own life, patience has a place.

Let me provide a practical example of patience.

If you were to invest in a low-cost Mutual Fund (which I highly recommend), if you let your money compound for twenty years $10,000 becomes $365,000. In forty years, that $10,000 becomes $1,200,000.

And here’s if you make additional contributions of $100 every month — in twenty years, $10,000 becomes $723,000 and in thirty years, $2,400,00.

I have been taught that we overestimate what can be accomplished in 1 year and underestimate what can be accomplished in 3-5 years. Yet, just on an hourly scale, too many of us lack the foresight and patience to dispel our desire for instant gratification or control our addiction to pleasure.

Much of this has to do with the society we live in — the controllers of our society understand our nature as humans. Which is all the more reason to remain focused and practice patience in the pursuit of our goals.

Patience has a direct correlation to faith. Regarding achievement, in my mind, patience is the understanding of time. It is understanding everything worthwhile takes time and accepting the passage of time. While faith is trusting your efforts within that time and believing progress is made through those efforts.

The example of a Mutual Fund earning interest highlights the power of compounding which is defined as “the ability of a sum of money to grow exponentially over time by the repeated addition of earnings to the principal invested.”

Just like money earning interest allowing it to grow, the work you do compounds over time. The time you put in — your efforts — are collecting interest that will get you to your goal. Too many people give up before the interest they’ve earned has compounded to the point that accomplishing their goal is an inevitability. And our goals become inevitable as we consistently progress, each and every day, within the time we’ve been blessed with.