Subtitle: Impatience Redefined

Is there a secret to success? Fuck yes, there is! I’ll give it to you right now, too! I’ll give you insight into something that can separate you from at least 90% of your competition RIGHT NOW… No, I’m completely serious when I say that! Ok, so enough of the hype… what’s the formula? Here it is… in order to be WAY ahead of most of your competition, you have to cultivate a mentality of EXTREME MOTIVATION, and the drive to work harder and better than anyone else around you – become the most ambitious person you know. Imagine what the most motivated man/woman on Earth would be doing RIGHT NOW, if they had the same goals as you did… Picture that for a minute, and then write down what you see, and then get to work.

Is that it?

What do you mean, ‘is that it?!’ That’s a lot! … But no, actually, that’s not it. I also wanted to talk about patience vs. impatience, and I’m telling you, you probably haven’t heard this before…

Now, here’s another bit of information that not too many folks will tell you… in fact, they’ll likely tell you the opposite! It is said that patience is a virtue, and that, “people need to slow down, people are too rushed around, and far too impatient.”

I say that’s a bunch of bullshit.

Yes, you need to relax sometimes, obviously. But I don’t think impatience is to blame. In fact, I think impatience is one of the keys to survival. The problem, if there is one, is that people use impatience the WRONG way.

There’s a positive use of impatience, and a negative use. Just as there is for patience, as well. I liken the word patience to the concepts of waiting, idle time, and even ‘slacking.’ Likewise, I see impatience as a synonym to concepts such as survival, ambition, doing, getting shit done NOW, not waiting until tomorrow, etc.

But you can mess it up if you’re not careful. Just going and going and going impatiently won’t necessarily get you the results you want, in music production, or in anything else, for that matter.

So what you have to do is use patience as a foundation. Plan out what you want to do today. Sure, more things might come up, but focus primarily on what you want to get accomplished today. This Foundational Patience will serve you well when you get up and go do what it is you set forth on your plan.

Next, use your impatience as motivation to get up and do what’s on your list! Patience is not the enemy, but thoughtless patience is very much the enemy! Yes, you need both patience and impatience. It’s technically a balance, but I give WAY more credit to impatience, on this one… You have to start out in the thoughtful realm of calmness and waiting, but then once you know where you’re going, get up and fucking do it, now. Right now.

See, that’s why I call it Impatientism. (and no, I’m not referencing the small art movement) Impatience is given an undue hatred in our society, and patience is considered a virtue, but really, you should focus on both, and, to be honest, most of the time you should be using your impatience to succeed.

Don’t do it later. Don’t get high first. Don’t do it tomorrow. Don’t get on Facebook. Don’t make a Hot Pocket. Do what’s on your list, and get that shit done, now! Impatience is awesome, and you need to tap into it. Don’t waste too much time pretending you’re productive if you’re not getting anything done. Plan things out, but don’t waste time on it, either. Plan shit out, and then do it. That’s it. Whatever you wanted to accomplish in the next seven days, plan on doing it in the seven hours.

What about taking brakes?

Of course you can take a brake. You don’t want to burn out and faint while you’re sprinting to the finish line. Yes, take a brake if you’re tired. A small brake. And as you take your brake, use your foundational patience to refocus on what you want to do. Then, after that little ten minute brake is complete, be even MORE impatient and body slam your tasks into the fucking wall. KILL the day, be violent with how productive you are. (Yes, that’s figurative, don’t ACTUALLY get violent… lol) Prove to yourself how centered and ultrafocused you are.

I just realized that my word processor inserted a troublesome red line underneath my use of the word, ‘ultrafocused,’ indicating that it’s not a real word. But I’m going to leave it in anyway, because as far as I’m concerned, it’s a real concept, and if “lol” is in the dictionary, ‘ultrafocused’ is just as goddamn legitimate, as far as I’m concerned, in my ultrafocused mindset :)

Think about this, too – who inspires you? Who has really gone out of their way to get something out of life that seems downright fucking miraculous, in your view? Now, think about this, too – they’re human. If they can do it, with whatever was inside of them, deep down in their psyche, their core, their ‘soul,’ then you can do it, too.

With few exceptions, pretty much anyone can take on pretty much any task. Yes, there are exceptions… A guy in a wheelchair probably won’t play in the NBA… If you don’t know what a “math” is, you probably won’t be a computer programmer… But I’ll assume that pretty much everyone who’s reading this IS capable. (If you’re not capable of something, network, network, network! Use your impatience to figure out the best route to getting people to help you in the areas you’re shorthanded at, and be willing to help them out, too.) But I’m telling you, pretty much anything you could want out of life – you have the potential inside of yourself to accomplish it.

Anyway, so there you are… new concepts to think about…

Foundational Patience, Positive Impatience, Ultrafocus, Impatientism,

Remember, impatience is NOT a bad thing, and everyone is society who got what they wanted had to have a decent amount of impatience in them, whether they knew it or not. Now go take on the day! Destroy it!

Some people might ask you why you don’t slow down… Ask yourself why they don’t speed up.

-Will (Strange)