People are incredibly impatient when it comes to reaching their goals.

So impatient, in fact, that the moment they’ve even decided upon a goal for themselves they wish it was already accomplished.

Being impatient is perfectly human. It’s the reason you get in line at the shortest checkout lane in the grocery store. It’s the reason you use the fast food drive-through.

Unfortunately, it’s also the reason you give up on your goals so quickly.

In this article, I’ll be discussing the importance of patience when it comes to reaching your goals.

How many times have you taken something you’ve never done before and immediately wished you were an expert at it? I’ve done this countless times:

1. I wish I could play magnificent piano pieces without taking lessons.
2. I wish I could dance like a professional without having to learn.
3. I wish I could create awesome drawings without having to practice.

How many times, though, have you taken something you’ve never done before and immediately became an expert at it? In this instance, I can’t think of a single thing.

That’s because the process of learning, experimenting, and even struggling is necessary before you can achieve anything. You don’t become an expert at something just by wanting to — you need to earn it.

This holds true all the way back to your infancy. Think about it — as a newborn child, you knew absolutely nothing. Tasks you do every day now, like walking, seem so simple you’ve probably forgotten that you ever even needed to learn how to do it.

So now that you’re grown up, you tend to rush into things without taking the time to learn how first. Your desire to fulfill your goal quickly often causes you to skip the learning process, as if it’s a waste of your time. That’s why when I listed my wishes above, I emphasized how I wanted something without working to earn it:

1. Play piano without taking lessons.
2. Dance without having to learn.
3. Draw without having to practice.

This is what separates wishes from goals. Wishes are things you want without having to work for them. Goals are things you consciously strive towards, aware of the steps involved in earning them.

Before you could learn to walk, you had to learn to stand. Before you could learn to stand, you had to learn to crawl. Yet when it comes to your goals today, you want to take off running without learning to crawl first.

What you’ve forgotten is what happens when you skip that step: You fall.

And once you’ve fallen, you’re exactly where you were before you started.

So remember, goals take time to accomplish. Start where you are, assess what step comes next, then take it — and don’t ever give up.

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