The Role of Patience In Achieving Success

Overnight success happens, but it’s incredibly rare.

If you’re sitting around waiting for your life to magically turn around, you need to stop. Not all of us can win lotteries or sue a major company to get rich. Many wealthy people still don’t feel like they’ve accomplished enough.

Although everyone defines success differently, most people will agree that real success requires patience and perseverance. Renowned businesspeople can tell you all about how attaining success required years of “overnight successes”.

To achieve anything in life, you need to set your eye on the prize, have a plan of action, and keep at it until you get what you want. You should expect hurdles and be open to learning and changing your strategy as you go.

Here’s why patience is so important:

Patience and Self-Discipline Go Hand-in-Hand

When you understand that achieving success requires time and patience, you learn self-discipline. Whether you’re a struggling artist desperate to catch a big breakthrough or an upcoming entrepreneur looking for investors, you’ll have to figure out small steps that bring you closer to your goal.

For an artist, this can mean playing small gigs that allow them to share talent with new audiences and make some money. A young entrepreneur can benefit from attending networking events and connecting with other professionals in their industry.

Not all gigs and networking events will bring in leads, but they do increase your chances, and that’s what patient and self-disciplined people never forget.

You’ll Learn to Value Persistence

One of the main differences between successful and unsuccessful people is that the first group values persistence, and the second group gives up when faced with obstacles.

Those with strong self-belief don’t stop even when things get hard. They continue what they started until they accomplish their goals.

Quitting when you’re confronted with obstacles is the easy thing to do. Overcoming hurdles requires effort and resilience, and that’s what gives some people an edge over the others. They understand that each hurdle they overcome brings them one step closer to their goals.

Akwasi Frimpong’s Story

As an Olympic athlete, I know all about obstacles and challenges. I’ve been pursuing my dreams of becoming a globally-renowned Olympic athlete since the age of 15. Despite facing many setbacks, including an ankle injury that could have easily derailed my athletic career, I kept at it.

There was something in me that refused to take “no” for an answer. I didn’t want the pity or sympathy; I just needed support because I knew that I wasn’t going to stop until I found success.

Like they say, “the path to success is not a straight line, rather a wild ride”. There will be obstacles, and you will need to continue to re-evaluate the situation and reinvent yourself, but you will get there as long as you keep moving and putting in the effort.

I can now proudly say that I am a successful entrepreneur, philanthropist, an Olympian from Africa who persevered, a motivational speaker, and an athlete ready to win gold in the 2022 Olympics.