Be Patient but Persistent

When I started my own consulting company a little over a year ago, one of the first things I did was develop a Mission and Vision statement as well as my Core Values for my company. Two of my core values are patience and persistence. At the time I never realized how hard it would be to keep these core values front and center in my approach to growing my business. While at face value they seem to oppose each other, in reality they compliment one another. You can not successfully be persistent without being patient. You have to know when to apply the pressure and when to hold back and let nature take its course.

In a past life as a sales and marketing director for a beverage distribution company I would have never been described as being patient. I certainly was persistent, almost to the point of being unbearable.I rarely took the time to let things develop and often made rash decisions without having all the necessary information. I didn't have patience to evaluate alternative courses of action. Most of the time this approach actually worked, but the times it didn't proved disastrous.

I practice patience everyday of my life as I have come to realize the world doesn't always move at my pace. I continue to be persistent because it is the only way I know how to keep moving forward. These two core values are vital in creating a balanced approach to both business and life.