This article talks about the benefits of developing patience and how it can help us enhance and improve our lives in 7 unique ways. The advantages of cultivating patience are virtually infinite. There is no limit to what we can achieve by exercising this one remarkable virtue. Countless scenarios that we can prevent from going out of control. Important relationships that we can save and even bolster, only by learning to keep a cool head at all times.

It is a fact that we all find ourselves to be in difficult situations at some point in life – situations which demand effective control over our thoughts, feelings, and emotions. Unfortunately, not all emerge victorious from such challenges, and often lose more than just our temper in the process. And the worst part is that we don’t even realise the extent of the damage that has been caused until it’s too late.

A better approach would be to devote some time to cultivate patience as a virtue. However, most people need some form of incentive in order to give them the desired push, and this post is here to do just that. Below are 7 significant benefits that we can gain from becoming patient individuals, be it in terms of our finances, relationships, or overall growth and progress. But before we begin, here’s a link to our publication titled “How to cultivate patience as a virtue“, in case you were curious.

Generate massive wealth 

This is the first of the top 7 benefits of developing patience. If you’re an active investor, you must be aware of the number one rule of investing – keep your emotions in check. Every year, numerous investors lose hefty sums of money because they fail to rein in their emotions, and end up making bad decisions in haste.

Patience is an extremely critical trait that all of us should strive to develop if we wish to amass great wealth in our lifetime. Let us take the example of stock market for better understanding. Warren Buffet has repeatedly stressed over the importance of being patient when investing in the stock market. Especially when everyone else seems to have entered a panic mode resulting in irrational decisions. Every time the stock market goes haywire, the patient investor makes a lot of money while the emotional one loses an even greater sum. 

In addition, many beginners often tend to invest their life’s savings in companies which seem like lucrative opportunities but in actuality have the worst possible finances. Why is this? For the simple reason – they lack the patience to research the companies first. They suffer from what’s commonly known as the “fear of missing out” on rare opportunities. In contrast, all successful stock investors take ample time to thoroughly research the companies they wish to invest in. They never let their emotions guide their actions, and rely heavily on their secret superpower – unconditional patience. 

If you truly wish to make considerable profits from your investments, it is imperative to learn to give time for things to fall into place. In the longer run, good, thoughtful, and well planned investments tend to provide better than expected returns. Sure enough, they have their ups and downs on a micro level. But a patient investor knows better than to lose sight of his end goal. He or she does not act on passing impulses, and this one trait can give us an unprecedented advantage over others.

Further, many people look for a chance to make a lot more money in a lot less time. This makes them the perfect prey for scammers who take advantage of the latter’s lack of patience to put in the required effort and wait for positive results to manifest. Instead of taking a slow but steady approach, people look for shortcuts and easier ways to gain instant gold and end up getting cheated or robbed. 

Improve your relationships 

This is the second of the top 7 benefits of developing patience. Arguments and quarrels are a part and parcel of any relationship. Conflict of ideas is just as natural as your desire to prove yourself right. However, how we handle such disputes makes all the difference in the world. Our ability to tackle such issues in a mature manner allows us to maintain our dignity even when we are the ones at fault. 

Impatient individuals tend to act out aggressively whenever someone challenges their existing thought processes. They lack the ability to grasp new ideas, and are unable to step out of their restrictive and conservative shells. Patient individuals, on the other hand, handle such conflicts much more constructively. They aren’t quick to react, and choose to respond only after understanding the entire situation.

Further, patient individuals also focus on choosing their words wisely. They are aware of the damage that can be caused when one speaks without considering the consequences. They respond only when they see fit and aren’t provoked into giving self-defeating reactions. This empowers them to keep an upper-hand in any argument and allows them to become the person-in-charge of the conversation. When dealing with a bad situation, it prevents them from worsening the same.

People end up ruining their relationships with those they hold dear because they lack self-control. They act as slaves to their negative emotions and cause even the silliest of debates to turn into the ugliest of arguments. Developing patience can keep us from destroying our relationships. At the same time, taking the time to actually understand what the other person is trying to convey puts us in good light, thereby strengthening our bond with the latter.

As human beings, we all wish to be heard and understood. But before we expect others to absorb what we have to say, we must be willing to listen to their side of the story first. And cultivating patience as a virtue allows us to do just that. It also enables us to handle difficult people better, and helps keep our calm during heated discussions and arguments.

Achieve long-term success 

This is the third of the top 7 benefits of developing patience. In life, success comes to those who think long-term. To think long-term, one needs to keep a clear head, especially during challenging times. And to be able to do that, one must strive to cultivate patience not just as a virtue, but on an identity level. 

In order to do well in life, it is essential to let go of our impatient proclivities. Our tendency to seek immediate results and enjoy instant gratification holds us captive and prevents us from fulfilling our goals and desires. All good things take time to manifest, and if we truly wish to become successful, we must be willing to wait and let the magic happen. There have been countless instances wherein extraordinary individuals lost everything they had worked so hard for because of one wrong decision made in haste.

Interestingly, we all find ourselves to be in situations which require us to exercise absolute control over our sudden impulses. One wrong move, and we will have pushed ourselves a decade back in time. For ex. Often, we come across rare career opportunities which seem too good to be true, and instead of taking a step back to conduct proper research, we leap at the chance only to find that the grass is actually dead on the other side of the fence. In such scenarios, it becomes exceedingly crucial to make well informed decisions. And this can only be achieved if we have the patience to gather critical intel on the matter first.

As described earlier, developing patience also allows us to accumulate wealth and do well financially. Patient individuals maintain a healthy distance from activities that have the potential to jeopardize their future. They choose to stay away from unnecessary shortcuts and suspicious opportunities. 

In today’s world, with the ongoing advancement in technology, it has become unimaginably convenient for criminals to target common individuals and rob them of their life’s savings. Unfortunately, the victims play an important role in such tragedies because even though they are aware of the ongoing cyber crimes, they can’t help but give in to their desire to make easy money. The losses incurred in such situations can be devastating, and difficult to cope with in this lifetime. And then there are the criminals themselves. The dynamics of such crimes are especially intriguing because both the criminal as well as the victim get involved in this mess due to their impatient proclivities. And at what cost? The victim is forced to start over while the criminal, once caught, is sent to jail after which it becomes almost impossible for him (or her) to do anything meaningful with his (or her) life.

Make better decisions

This is the fourth of the top 7 benefits of developing patience. This section is an extension of how we can achieve long-term success using patience, and explains the advantages of cultivating the same in relation to a much more holistic aspect of life. A wise man once said, “decisions made in haste are as good as suicide”. This will make perfect sense to those who have lost something significant to ill-timed impulses. And for those who have been fortunate enough to not go through the experience, this is perhaps one of the most important lessons to learn in life – decisions made in haste are as good as suicide.

Patience enables us to analyze complex situations to their very core, thereby allowing us to look beyond the face value of things. People tend to assume that wealth and strength are the two greatest symbols of power. However, their assumptions happen to be just that. It is one’s ability to make rational decisions in the midst of utter chaos that makes him (or her) powerful in the true sense of the word. 

A common example of this is how we choose our leaders during elections in a democracy. We look for someone who can assure us that he (or she) will be able to make good decisions pertaining to the growth and security of our nation on behalf of the masses. A person who can prove to be skilled at keeping his (or her) calm in the face of turmoil emerges as the clear choice because in the end, it all comes down to this one virtue – patience – that represents the greatest power there is. We look for neither wealth nor strength when choosing the sculptors of our future. And this should speak volumes as to how important it is for us to cultivate patience as a virtue. 

Find inner peace

This is the fifth of the top 7 benefits of developing patience. Good mental health and lasting inner peace are a need of the hour in the 21st century. Considering the ever-increasing pace that the world has been accelerating at, it has become exceedingly common for us to get agitated over petty issues. We look for instant materialization of the things we desire, so much so that the moment we are made to wait, all hell breaks loose.

Unfortunately for us, not everything goes our way, due to which, many of us tend to stay in a constant state of irritability. We lose our temper at the slightest provocation. This not only negatively affects our relationships with our family, friends and colleagues, but also takes a toll on our physical and mental health. Interestingly, most of us end up blaming our circumstances and do nothing to treat the actual cause – our lack of patience.

The sooner we accept the simple truth that our reactions are a consequence of our mental and emotional capabilities and not a by-product of our circumstances, the sooner we can begin eliminating our weaknesses as an impatient individual. Meditation can play an important role in this regard since it is the number one tool for cultivating patience and eventually finding inner peace.

People who are patient enough aren’t provoked or negatively affected by external stimulations easily. They know how to stand their ground in the face of adversity. They know how to keep their heads clear so as to find the answers they are looking for. They also know how to handle difficult people, and render them weak and powerless if required, by not giving in to the urge to react in a manner they might come to regret later on.

If we do not learn to manage our stress, it can very well become the death of us. Suicide is an unfortunate yet common outcome of unregulated stress and anxiety. And those of us who are strong enough to not allow ourselves to go to such extremes end up paying in the form of destroyed careers, ruined relationships, and self-defeating addictions. In contrast, if we were to focus on achieving this one magic pill called “unconditional patience”, most of our problems would just vanish into thin air.

It may sound exaggerated and a little far-fetched, but the mental and emotional maturity that patience grants us is truly remarkable. It can help us maintain inner peace and silence any unnecessary negative voices in our heads. It can even improve our mental health tremendously and enable us to nurture healthy and constructive thoughts only.

Learn new skills & crafts

This is the sixth of the top 7 benefits of developing patience. Learning any new skill or craft takes time and an awful lot of physical and mental effort, especially at an older age. If you truly wish to master a skill, you need to first go through the theory and the basics, and then spend weeks, months, and sometimes even years, practicing the same. Unfortunately, not all of us are accustomed to religiously following this due process, because of which many of us tend to give up too soon.

Cultivating patience can prove to be extremely useful in staying determined to finish what we start. It can allow us to keep at bay any negative thoughts and self-defeating ideas that may prevent us from achieving our goals. Manifesting our dreams can quickly turn into an excruciating struggle due to the repetitive action and relentless labor involved. If we aren’t prepared well from the start, failure can become an inevitable outcome to all our ambitious endeavors.

Patient individuals tend to stick to their grind for as long as it takes to become successful. They understand that absolute devotion yields good results in good time. They realise the importance of moving forward even when they don’t wish to. They know that this feeling of great burden will change once they find what they’re looking for. And it works for any of the skills out there. You’ve got to have the patience to see it through. Otherwise, you will end up conceding defeat just a few feet away from the finish line.

Become a better human being 

This is the seventh of the top 7 benefits of developing patience. Considering all the pointers mentioned in the previous sections, we believe it is safe to say that this one powerful virtue can lead to a holistic growth of any individual. Be it in terms of your finances, relationships, career growth, mental health, self-development, or any other important aspect of your life, you can pretty much ace them all by learning to control your impulses and cultivating absolute patience.

Further, patience allows us to take the time to perceive other people’s pain and suffering when interacting with them. It allows us to act empathetically and compassionately towards others. When we get into the habit of not expressing the first thought that crosses our mind during any confrontation, we prevent ourselves from behaving in a regrettable manner. We become skilled at keeping ourselves from acting foolishly in important situations. Let’s be honest, we have all been there, and it is not a pleasant experience.

Exercising patience also gives us time to reflect upon our past decisions and learn from our mistakes. If we do not pause to contemplate our day-to-day actions, we will never be able to surpass our limitations and reach our full potential. Instead, we will continue to live in a shell, thinking that we are doing good in life, even though there is so much more that we can achieve. As a matter of fact, developing patience can have so many unseen and indirect advantages that it’s impossible to list them all in one post.

Conclusion

Benefits of developing patience are practically limitless. It is an extremely powerful virtue, and can significantly uplift our sense of being and help us become great thinkers. With all the critical aspects of our life in our control, we become capable of looking beyond the ordinary and focusing on the extraordinary. Even in times of adversity, we aren’t easily moved by what troubles us. Instead, we fight magnificently and emerge victorious nevertheless. Share this article if you think there’s someone in your circle of impact who can benefit from reading this.

Resources

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