Focus 3 
In order to achieve any goal in life, there are three things you must do:
- Work the process
- Invest the time
- Solve the problems
These three disciplines are requirements for achieving anything of significance. What does not work is resisting the process, resenting the time, or complaining about the problems. Keep in mind the three disciplines scale with the size of the goal you are pursuing. As the goal gets bigger, the process gets more difficult, it takes longer, and the problems get more challenging.
Consistently executing the three disciplines requires a mindset of patience and perseverance. Achieving goals requires the patience and perseverance to execute the process that is necessary for the time that is required and solve the inevitable problems along the way. A mindset of patience and perseverance is what makes you relentless. It gives you determination, tenacity, and grit.
Patience and perseverance are super powers. Patience is the discipline to endure challenging circumstances and difficult people without losing your focus or getting pulled off-path. Perseverance is the discipline to do what needs to be done for as long as it takes. The reality is that there will be people who irritate you. There will be situations that frustrate you. There will be plans and projects that take a long time and a lot of effort to achieve. There will be problems you need to solve and obstacles you need to overcome.
A mindset of patience and perseverance keeps you moving forward. It resists the impulse to complain, make excuses, or give up. It focuses on solutions, not problems. It creates positive energy that motivates productive action. Patient, persistent people have an enormous competitive advantage because they solve problems faster, get better results, and experience significantly less stress.
Impatience diminishes your perseverance and creates negative energy. It happens when you complain about working the process, or get frustrated about the time that is required, or get irritated at the problems and obstacles you have to deal with.
Therein lies the problem, because you can’t cheat the necessary process, nor can you cheat the required time, nor can you avoid the inevitable problems. In some situations it is possible to use strategies to streamline the process or techniques to accelerate the time, but the necessity for patience and perseverance still applies. Such is the nature of the pathway to success in every domain of life.
- Every parent who has raised children knows the necessity of patience and perseverance.
- Every coach who has led a team knows the necessity of patience and perseverance.
- Every manager or executive who has led a business knows the necessity of patience and perseverance.
- Every farmer who has planted a field knows the necessity of patience and perseverance.
- Every teacher who has led students on the learning journey knows the necessity of patience and perseverance.
- Every student who has worked to learn a subject or a skill knows the necessity of patience and perseverance.
- Every athlete/artist who has pursued mastery of a sport/craft knows the necessity of patience and perseverance.
Is there some area of your life where you are losing patience and perseverance? Where your motivation is diminishing and your energy is fading? It could be toward a person you work with (or live with). It could be toward a plan or project you are working on. It could be toward a process you are trying to implement (or change). It could be toward a weight loss / workout plan. It could be toward a particular situation you are dealing with.
If so, it is time for a reset. It is time to refocus your attention and rekindle your motivation for doing the work. It is time to rediscover A Mindset of Patience and Perseverance. It is time to work the process that is necessary for the time that is required, and solve problems along the way.
Do the work.
