When it comes to self-development and growth, the first thing one needs to accept is to simply act.  Taking action, learning to stop overthinking and just take a leap of faith requires strong momentum and sometimes just one really big, painful push in the right direction.  But what do you do once you give yourself that big push?  You see, I think of this process the same way I think of a coin.  A coin usually has two sides and just like with anything worth working for, mastering balance is key.  Strong Momentum is one side of the coin while patience is the other, in a way these two sides are total opposites, one requires “to do” while the other requires “to sit back”. 

This is obviously easier said than done, especially when we tend to get caught up in our daily to do lists or fall behind in some way.  The good news is that it can still be done, you have the power to decide. 

When you feel down and lost, just know that it is all part of the journey intended to serve the big picture and mastering patience will allow for the journey to become more enjoyable.  Here are some tips to practice patience:

• Read:  Sometimes running to other people for advice is not the best thing because it is your journey, no one else’s.  Instead turn to books, see them as advice from professionals that have been in your shoes.

• Reset your expectations: Achieving big goals take time, remind yourself where you want to be in 4 years versus imagining you’ll get it all done in 6 months and feeling like a failure if you didn’t.

• Meditate:  As one of the most challenging things to master, it is meditation that allows you to control your mind versus letting your mind control you.

• Journal:  The fun part of journaling isn’t to write a whole memoir of your life, but it allows you to look back which allows you to realize how much you have grown.  It’s also a good way to keep yourself in check when you begin to lose your humility.

• Practice affirmations:  As cheesy as it sounds, this literally takes 5-10 minutes a couple of repetitions and deep breaths.  You are literally training your mind to believe what you want it to believe.

• Allow room for change:  Don’t get obsessed with sticking to your ideal plan because nine times out of ten, it’s not going to play out the exact way you imagine but that’s the fun part. Life is full of surprises and these surprises end up building character.

• Reflect on how far you’ve come, even if it’s not according to your plan.  One of the most fun moments for me are the ones where I am doing something random that only seemed to be something I would do in a dream but here I am doing it casually. 

The beauty of these moments is that those are your moments and there is no need to share them with anyone else because only you know how special that moment is.  This is a moment when you step back from the present look around you and say “wow, I always dreamed of being this person.” It is not you against your competition, it is you against you.