Know When To Be Patient And When To Act

One of the major challenges that face so many people in this era is not knowing when to act and when to be patient. There are some people who are naturally impatient and rush to do things without even thinking, and without having adequate plan for it. No wonder they end up making some very avoidable mistakes. On the other hand, there are some other people that will continue to wait without taking any step, and they allow fear, doubt, or overthinking to delay them from taking actions. And they end up missing opportunities. So you see, both extremes are not good. Here, was shall be taking a consideration of when to act and when to be patient. With this, it will be better to make good choices and decisions.

The first one is that you have to be patient when you need more knowledge, but you have to act when you have enough information. You have to understand that it is not every decision that you need to take in a haste. If you lack the relevant and required knowledge, then the wise thing to do is to learn, gather more details, and seek advice. But you also need to know that you should not wait for a perfect knowledge. Otherwise, it may prevent you from taking action at all. Once you have enough knowledge to make an informed decision, then you should take your first step. You have to strike a balance between gathering more knowledge and taking steps on the information you already have. The growth you seek will happen when your preparation meets your actions.

In addition to this, you also need to be patient for the result, while you act on your responsibilities. When a farmer plants some seeds in his farm for example, he will have to wait many months or years, depending on the type of seeds, before he will go to harvest his fruits. He will have to wait until the maturity period of the fruit. However, even though he is waiting for the fruits to mature, he will still be needed to take some farm responsibilities, which includes watering, weeding, putting fertiliser, etc. While you want for the result, it is important to note that you should not stop doing your part. Continue learning, continue working and improving yourself.

You also have to be patient in difficult seasons, but do not forget to act on the lessons learnt. Life can throw at you some moments of uncertainty, or even disappointments. During those times, it is patience that will help you to remain calm and maintain your hope instead of taking rash, irrational, and emotional decisions. On the other hand, difficult moments should not be wasted. You can leverage on them to learn, improve, work on yourself, learn lessons, and become better. This will help you to prepare for the better opportunity, and will also make you to be prepared for what lies ahead. After all, patience does not mean that you should be passive.

Another very important point is that you also need to be patient with people, but you should act on your principles. People grow and mentally mature at different rates. Your friends, your family members, colleagues, neighbours, employees, etc, will need time to learn, mature, and change. When you have patience with them, you will build a better relationship with them. But it is worthy to note that, that you are having patience with them, does not mean that you should compromise your own values. When you notice that your core values, like your integrity, safety, etc, are at risk of compromise, then you have to act wisely and firmly. It is true that you should respect people, but you should not sacrifice your values simply because you want to please them.

Finally, you have to be patient for the right opportunity, but you need to act fast when it comes. There are some opportunities that need waiting, so that you will avoid poor decisions by rushing into them. It is patience that will help you to recognise the right timing for the opportunity you want. However, waiting should not be a process of wasting time. Once the right opportunity presents itself, do not allow fear or doubt to keep you from acting. Wisdom is knowing when action is necessary, and when patience is required.

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