Month: February 2014

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Constructive Impatience

Just had a chat to someone about Constructive Impatience. Thought you might get something from it.
We’ve all witnessed destructive impatience. When a person “loses it” over things not happening as fast as they would like or need them to happen. It is conceived by a combination of desire for something and unreal expectation of what it will take to get it, grows with a good dose of resentment and is born of unthinking upset with the lack of the desired result.
There were two wrongnesses I observed in myself when I fell into this trap.
The first was an unrealistic expectation of the amount of time, effort, skill, knowledge or experience it would take to accomplish the objective. And when you start with that, how can you give your self a win and grow in confidence? Quite simply, you cannot.
So I had to learn to better estimate the amount of effort it would take to accomplish the objective.
To give yourself loss after loss, set objectives in time frames that are unrealistic.
If you want to feel 10 feet tall you need to correctly estimate times and efforts and set attainable targets.
The second mistake was allowing myself to get frustrated. What I should have done was to step back and ask some analytical questions that might help. If not this time, at least next time.
What am I trying to get as a product?
What am I getting?
If I am not getting the result I am seeking here…
Where was my estimation out?
How could I improve my performance?
What do I need to change now or the next time I am in a situation like this?
What piece of technology or wisdom would I need to know and apply to prevent this situation happening again?
Then there is also not being impatient enough. Being too content with how things are, despite them being non-optimum. Or being too immersed in the doingness that we forget to step back, take stock and analyse whether or not our actions are yielding the results we seek.
Remember, positive change occurs as a direct result of the application of Constructive Impatience.
Ask yourself these questions:
What am I trying to get as a product in each area of my life?
What am I actually getting?
Am I getting the result I am seeking?
Where was my estimation out?
How could I improve my performance?
What actions and costs can I shed that do not directly and significantly contribute to the objective.
What do I need to change or improve to quadruple my production?
What would need to occur for me to ten times my production?
What do I do and only I can do that gets the results I am getting?
What tasks would I need to delegate or outsource?
What are the principle barriers blocking my progress?
What are two solutions to each barrier?
What piece of technology or wisdom would I need to know and apply to move the existing scene closer to my goal?
Did you answer them?
If not, set a time to answer them and print this out and put it aside till then.
May you flourish and prosper!
Tom Grimshaw