Patience Is A Virtue – And A Key to Career Success

Patience isn’t just something you practice when you’re waiting for that hot apple pie – fresh from the oven – to cool off before taking a bite.

The art of waiting (and doing so with a positive attitude) is also a central key to finding Career Success!

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed in the fast-paced world of work. It can seem like there’s too much to learn and too much to do – and too much pressure on top of it all.

If you can’t step back and take the time you need, how will you succeed?

In this blog post, we’ll explore why patience is so important, especially if you’re just beginning your professional career.

What is Patience?

Patience is the ability to endure waiting, delay, or suffering without becoming annoyed or upset. When you’re patient, you can bear pains or challenges calmly or without complaint.

Patience is often described as a virtue. It allows a person to better handle difficult situations and to persevere through challenges. When we practice patience, we can remain focused and make thoughtful decisions, rather than reacting impulsively.

Practicing patience also helps us practice empathy, as we can understand what it feels like to tolerate the difficulties and challenges faced by others.

It’s not always easy to be patient, but it’s a valuable skill that can be developed over time. All it takes is a little self-control and self-discipline to learn how to keep calm and maintain perspective in difficult situations.

The Workplace Benefits of Patience

Patience has many benefits in the workplace! From helping you stay focused on long-term goals, reducing stress levels and increasing productivity, to helping you maintain healthier relationships with colleagues.

Here are some of the ways that patience can help you succeed at work:

• Improved focus – When faced with a challenging task or project, patience helps us stay focused on long-term goals rather than short-term distractions. When you keep your end results in mind, you can achieve more in the long run.
• Reduced stress – Impatience is tied to frustration and anxiety, which can be damaging both personally and professionally. Practicing patience helps us recognize feelings and take steps to slow down – reducing stress in turn.
• Increased productivity – Being patient helps us better manage our priorities, our energy, and our time. It also keeps us from cutting corners that are costly in the long run, or rushing through tasks as quickly as possible at the expense of quality.
• Better decision-making - Patience is important for making informed and thoughtful decisions, rather than reacting impulsively or making rash choices that could have negative consequences for your project – or your career.
• Stronger relationships – Patience helps us stay levelheaded when communicating with colleagues or customers, even when things don’t go as planned or disagreements arise. When we have the patience to step back and understand each other’s perspective, we can deepen our relationships.

Build Patience Into Your Career Success Plan

Career Success is a is a journey, not a destination. That means you’ll need the patience to persevere through challenging moments.

You’ll need to work hard to develop new skills. You’ll need to handle setbacks without losing your cool.

How do you build patience in the workplace? In practice, that means:

• Understanding what makes you feel impatient: Deadlines, meetings, distractions, targets, and even other team members can trigger our impatience. Pay attention to the situations that make you feel on edge.
• Managing your impatience: When you start to feel frustrated or anxious, take time to address it. Step back, breathe, and collect your thoughts before you act. Consider what’s within your control and what’s outside of it.
• Being mindful: Recognize how impatience affects you, your work, and others around you. Try a little empathy to better understand their perspectives and challenges, alongside your own.
• Set realistic expectations: Make sure you can actually achieve what you set out to do… and then give yourself enough time to get things done. This might mean building extra time for setbacks and distractions into your schedule.
• Keeping your eye on the prize: Remember what you’re trying to achieve. Put minor setbacks in perspective of the greater goal. The why” can help you stay motivated through the challenges along the way.

Career Success doesn’t happen overnight. It’ll take time to make a plan and bring it to life. But as long as you’re prepared to persevere through challenges to reap the rewards, you’ll find the effort pays off in spades!

With Great Patience Comes Great Career Success

Patience may not always come naturally, but it's an essential skill for anyone who wants to succeed professionally.

From improving focus, reducing stress levels, increasing productivity, making better decisions, and strengthening relationships, having patience will help you reach your goals faster and with greater success than ever before!

It's one of the most important skills you'll ever learn – which is why we practice what we preach in our Career Success Catalog! Enroll in a Course that’ll set you up for Career Success today.