The Impact of Being Impatient

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Impatience varies in degree from one person to the next. When you practice patience, you gain the ability to achieve a desired goal without feeling frustrated when the goal is not accomplished according to a reasonable schedule. Impatient people may feel frustrated when their goals are not accomplished according to their schedules, however unreasonable the schedules may be. Impatient behavior impacts relationships and one's mental well-being.

Consistent Dissatisfaction and Energy Waste

Being impatient increases the chance that you will be consistently dissatisfied, upset or angry because of pacing. For example, if you are trying to change something or grow in a certain way, and it doesn't happen that way, you could harbor negative feelings. Focusing on slowness is a waste of energy that can be better focused on finding ways to enact the changes that you want.

Potential to Destroy Relationships

Impatience can help destroy relationships you have with other people, including your friends, family and romantic partners. Being impatient can cause people who are trying to help you to withdraw their interest and effort. In dealing with you, they may get offended by the notion that their efforts are not good enough, even if you do not intend to send this message. When you demand quicker action from people in your life, you must remember that their feelings are involved.

Lose Motivation to Accomplish Goals

Impatient people run the risk of feeling overwhelmed. Instead of trying to accomplish a defined set of goals according to a reasonable schedule, impatient people may feel like they must rush and complete defined tasks as quickly as possible. For example, if you are writing an essay for a school assignment, you know that you have to conduct research for that paper. If your goal is to finish the paper as quickly as possible, you may not come across the most helpful research to support your writing. As a result, you might lose the motivation to do the best job possible. Instead, think about the tasks ahead of you and set a reasonable time frame that you will stick to.

Fail to Reflect on Successes

Impatient people move from task to task without fully appreciating the work that they accomplished. Depending on the task, you may have expended considerable effort, time and money to accomplish your goal. This principle holds true regardless of whether you are working on a personal goal, such as weight loss, or a professional goal, such as reducing your caseload. It is important to reflect on how far you have come in your work to feel the positive effects of your work.