A study by the management scholar Ernesto Reuben offered participants a choice between a having check straight away, or a larger check e in two weeks’ time. Are you surprised to know that about two-thirds chose the smaller, sooner reward? Then, even more surprising, more than half of those people then didn’t even cash the check for another two weeks. They might as well have waited for more money.
We live in a Culture of Now. The media, the internet, adverts, everything tells us to buy now, spend now and have whatever we want whenever we want it. No one talks about patience – well, it doesn’t make good business sense, does it? But no one explains that the cost of having things Now is a loss of your future. When many young people graduate from university or leave home for the first time, they find themselves living with less. They are used to a standard of living that they enjoyed at home with their parents and in this culture of Now, rather than wait until they can afford a similar style of life, they buy the things they want on credit, spend their wages as soon as they earn them and feel that they are entitled to do this. Of course, this is not a reflection on everyone, but it is a representation of today’s culture. Some young people have no idea that their parents had to work twenty or thirty years before being able to afford the things they have now. But impatience is expensive. It leads to debt, it starts a cycle of excessive consumption and lifestyle inflation, and ultimately impatience means that many people won’t ever be able to afford the luxuries they are so desperately after.
Table of Contents
Patience Allows Your Money To Grow
The longer you have your money for and don’t spend it, the more you will have of it. If you have the patience, stop thinking about why my 401k isn’t growing and simply let your money build – it will.
Patience Teaches You Discipline
Have you ever heard of the 30-day rule? It can revolutionize your shopping habits. Instead of buying what you want now, wait 30 days. Most of the time, you will realize that you can live without whatever it is, or you don’t want it anymore. Patience helps prevent mistakes.
Patience Teaches You What’s Important
As you go through life, your values change. If you can exercise patience, then you will learn what truly matters to you.
Patience Keeps You Sane
If you start practicing the thirty-day rule, start disciplining yourself, and have more patience in your life, then you will soon realize that you don’t care about the relentless drive for the new. You will find that you no longer care about fashion, you won’t give in to fads and trends. Patience means you will buy last year’s model, and you’ll end up keeping it until it dies, and because you’re not concerned with keeping up with other people, you’ll find you live a contented life.
Patience Leads to Wealth and Happiness
It can be tough to practice patience especially if you’re plugged into the television, radio, and the internet as mentioned, our society doesn’t believe in patience, it is all about Now, but patience does help you make better decisions in life. When you are not in a rush to do something, and feeling anxious about what it is you have to do, then it gives you time to find the best solution possible. If you are impatient to get what you want, you can easily make rash decisions, and they won’t necessarily be the right ones. Stay patient and build long term wealth.
Impatience Does Nothing Good For You
Practicing patience means that you allow yourself to be persistent; it means you can commit, you can persevere and stay in something for the long run. Having patience means that you won’t try to cut corners or rush things; instead, you will patiently work things out, do what you need to do, and make things happen. This commitment is what will bring you the results you want.
If you really want to save money this year, invest it, and make your money grow, then it’s important to remember that you have to have patience. Not only will this change your mindset, but it will also work, and you will be able to succeed. Forget the culture of Now, you don’t need it. Focus on the future and what you can achieve just by having a little patience.