Hunting season is right around the corner, and I can feel the impatience itching in that impossible spot to reach in the middle of my back. With a week left to go of bow season (and a week before the descent of the orange army), and months of waiting behind me, I’ve been thinking about hunting, waiting and wanting and what it is that instinctively guides some to find the right balance between patience and impatience. Right now, the rut is upon us and I am barely resisting the urge to get out to my tree stand and plan my strategy.
I’ve watched many a professional hunter hold on to an arrow with seemingly infinite patience, waiting for the right moment to shoot. I’ve also seen the same guy rip an arrow off without a moment’s hesitation. Knowing when to let an arrow fly is a combination of data and instinct – if you are too patient, the opportunity will pass, and if you are too jumpy, you might miss it altogether. Steve Jobs is one of my heroes, a man of singular vision and an interesting study in patience.
He was impatient with his employees and with technology, but he was never impatient about delivering his vision to the world. He had a hunter-like gauge of timing, of when consumers would be ready for his next innovation. That kind of laser-focused tight-rope walking between patience and impatience is one of the most valuable lessons we can learn from Steve, from my boy Bone Collector Michael Waddell, from all the great hunters, in business and the field that have brought us to where we are today.
Finding that balance is not easy, an imperfect science at best. I’ve got a few tips for each side of the scale.
If you are impatient and too often jumping the gun:
- Gather more data.
- See the value in letting things develop.
- Work on your strategy.
If patience has become too much of a virtue:
- Spend some time in visualization. Lay your challenge out like a movie and watch for the pivot points you can imagine.
- Learn to trust the data and your intuition.
- When the moment is right, let the arrow fly.
Ultimately, the journey to finding the balance you seek will likely take a lifetime. But, as it is often said, life is about the journey, not the destination. Every hunt, whether you take home a trophy or not, has a value of its own. And the more balanced you hunt, the more likely you will be to hit your targets, eventually losing uncertainty and gaining the instinct that makes great hunters great: when to hold on and when to let go.
