As the great song by Queen goes, I want it all and I want it now!

We are used to having everything at our immediate disposal these days: information, contact with family, friends and colleagues (even if they are in a different country), access to our favourite TV programmes (remember waiting a week at a time for a new episode?), local and even global news.

Practicing patience

Patience is a virtue not often practiced in today’s world.

However, wanting it all is one thing. Getting it may be another altogether – and how do we get there?

If you are travelling by car to somewhere you have never been before, chances are you will put the details into your sat nav and press “start”.

It will then give you step-by-step instructions on how to get from where you are to where you want to be.

We can use this same method in life and business.

You are where you are. You cannot change what has happened in the past and the future is up to you. It is what you do today that counts. But first you need to know where you want to go. It may be that you want to lose half a stone or three stone. Maybe you want a promotion at work or you want to increase sales in your business by 10%.

Whatever it is you want – no matter how big or small – name it! The more specific you can be, the better.

The sat nav will always tell you how long your journey will be, so add a date or timeline as to when you want to reach your goal or destination. Without this, you will end up driving around distracted – possibly even getting totally lost.

Do not sprint

Lastly, you must realise that we cannot time travel immediately to our destination. This is where patience comes in. We must take it step by step, day by day, action by action. I heard a quote recently: “A better version of you is on the other side of action.”

Only by pressing start on your sat nav, putting the car into gear and pressing the accelerator does your journey start. It’s the same thing in life. It is only by doing that things happen.

But you are also human, so the plan is really important – if you look at the whole journey/dream/task at hand, it can appear overwhelming and daunting.

My question to you is: how do you eat an elephant? Answer: one bite at a time.

Three things

So, start today and prioritise three things you need to do to take you one step nearer to your goal.

Chances are you have more than three things to do today but what three essential things can you do today that will help you achieve that goal? Remember, you have today, once it’s gone, its gone and yes, you can start again tomorrow but imagine where you could be in a week or a months’ time, if you did three essential tasks every day towards your life’s dream/goal.

Remember, the sat nav is one left or right turn at a time and sometimes you have to continue for the next 20 miles but you are getting there and your destination is getting closer the whole time! So, choose where you want to go, put the destination into your internal sat nav, calculate how you are going to get there and every day do the things that will help you get there.

Stay focused and enjoy the journey!

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