Patience ... A Lost Art

A couple of weeks ago, I had to go to the bank to lodge a foreign currency cheque. As luck would have it there was only one teller open. But there was one lady with the teller and four people in line including myself. "Not too bad " I thought.

Well the lady with the teller was trying to do about ten things and had not filled out the correct paperwork,so things were going slow. The clock was inching forward but the waiting line was static. The lady in front of me,kept turning around, throwing he eyes up to heaven and sort of performing a mini stomp. The sort you see kids do, when they can't get their way.

Just as the lady was finishing up with the teller, a gentleman joined the line. Within three seconds, he looked at the people in front of him and loudly exclaimed " oh for Fxxx's sake ". If he was looking for sympathy and letting us mere mortals know he was too important to be standing in line. Well, guess he blew it.

The lady left the counter and the next lady went up and left within two seconds as she was in the wrong place for the information she required. Next up to the teller was an elderly gentleman, leaving she who likes to stomp,me and the exasperated gentleman.

Because this man was doing a complicated transaction,it was taking a bit of time. The lady in front of me had by this stage now added a snort to her mini-stomp and rolling eyes. He finished and stomping lady went to teller. Guess what another teller opened up and I was served next. The lady who loved to roll her eyes was now herself holding up the line, because she did not have the correct paperwork filled out. Karma or what ?

Why am I telling you this story ?  ... for you the business owner and entrepreneur to understand three things ;

1. There is no magic bullet ; when it comes to marketing and advertising, you must have patience to try and test. Explore what is working and what is not. Be prepared for the long haul. One advert is not going to bring home the bacon,solve your financial worries. It takes time, it takes patience and willingness to explore and measure what works,worked and what didn't.

2. Everybody belongs to somebody ;
The gentleman who loudly exclaimed " oh for Fxxx's sake " let himself down badly. How does he know that I was not the favourite newphew of his biggest client ? He doesn/t . Maybe the teller was thinking of using his company for a project she had in mind. Maybe a friend of mind was thinking of asking him to be his mentor in business ?

You don't know who is around you when you are out in public. So why take the chance and let potential clients see you have no patience and a big ego too. Why would you take that chance ?

3. Explore and curiosity
Being an entrepreneur and business owner can be lonely at times and the successful one's take this lone time and turn into a game of exploring and wonder. They become curious about a new business that is exploding in the next city. They explore what are they doing right. They become curious about the guru who sold them this magic bullet, which keeps missing the target. Patience is what you need, need to learn and patience is what you need, to look behind the smoke and mirrors. You need to be able to drill down and understand what is truly going on, not taking the word of yes men who are only trying to sell you something or hold on their jobs.

All three take patience. As the great Og Mandino said " I must practice the art of patience for nature acts never in haste "

Colin Myles
Straight talk. Better business
Author, 5 Keys to Doing Business with the Right People
Author, 7 Reasons Your Business is Dead


p.s.
As a thank you for reading this post today, you can claim a copy of my book " 67 Uplifting Quotes " for FREE on Amazon today the 5th of May and tomorrow the 6th of May 2014.

p.p.s
Remember " everybody belongs to somebody "