When hunting a dominant buck, I wait for many variables to come together. When wind direction, state of breeding activity, entry and exit to my tree stand are in my favor, I will spend countless hours waiting patiently for the moment to come. I’ve walked miles and paced through acreage and never felt those times were wasted. There are times when you might think I have boundless patience. But you’d be wrong.
Too often I find myself projecting the future instead of being present. A lack of patience can result in a missed opportunity that might have been right in front of you waiting to be leveraged. Impatience can weaken your ability to negotiate the best deal, build something meaningful, or just be happier in the moment. Patience is not an inherent trait of entrepreneurs; our goal setting and kick some ass nature is seemingly incongruent with the very idea of patience. That’s why it is such a vital lesson to learn: you will make a bigger impact on the world, your life, your business, when every part of you is embedded in the moment, not anxiously awaiting the next.
This past weekend I spent some time in Florida with a guy we will call Walt. Walt is a person I constantly admire. He is a self-made man that has built incredible wealth in all facets of his life. He is like a magnet that draws targets to him; Walt is a patient guy.
“Florida has greatly increased my wealth in every way,” Walt told me as we were cruising on his extremely cool boat. “I used to get wound up about stoplights, traffic, all the little annoyances I felt were in my way. Once I overcame that impatient behavior and grew my patience it all changed. Everything has come together”.
Walt’s words really resonated with me. His former impatience was always with things that were out of his control. When you realize you can only control yourself, your actions and reactions, patience is easier to find. This gets me thinking “If I can give up control on the hunt, but stay targeted, focused and ready for any opportunity, I can do that with the rest of my life”.
Here’s to us all developing more patience on the hunt…
