Do you get frustrated when someone does not reply to your email or message? How many times did you message people on LinkedIn or even C# Corner, or try to connect on other social media, and people did not connect and/or message you back? Does it frustrate you? It sure frustrated me and I was like . F . U .. I M NEVER GOING TO TALK TO YOU AGAIN!!
Here goes the story. Once upon a time, I was young, energetic and bold. I wanted to take over the world. I wanted to change the world. I wanted to run faster than everyone else. But I was inexperienced, and I was naive.
Here am I today. Not so young, not so energetic, and may be not so bold either but for sure, I am more experience and wiser. All right, let's call it wiser because it sounds better 😊
All kidding aside, being old brings many perks and experience is one of them. From my 25 years of experience in IT and the startup world. I have learned a lot and one of things I have learned the most is to be patient. Be patient yet be persistent.
Let me share couple of short stories.
Two sides of a coin.
As I mentioned earlier, I wanted to run faster and when people did not respond, I used to get frustrated. I made many mistakes. I ruined several great relationships just because I wasn't patient.
I remember in my early days, I reached out to my company's CEO and proposed several ideas including rebranding the company website, design and others. Obviously, my ideas weren't taken seriously. I got discouraged and stopped proposing any new ideas.
Years passed and today, I am in the same shoes as my former CEO. Now, I realize when you run a company, you have some goals, responsibilities, and priorities. While for me, creating a new website was the highest priority, but for the CEO, it was the sales and product delivery.
“Have patience..”
Lesson learned was there are two sides of a coin. Most successful people try to understand both the sides. If you are trying to reach someone or asking someone for something, you must have patience. If the person doesn’t respond you, it should not frustrate you. Try other people and also try to reach out again, but be nice and definitely don’t get frustrated.
The world doesn’t revolve around you.
Remember your first job interview and waiting for that first call if you got the job or not? That was probably most important call of your life. While that call may be the most important call for you, it doesn’t mean that it was for the company. For that company, you were just one more person they may or may not hire.
Every person has their own priorities. While your priorities are YOU, my priorities are not YOU. Its ME. If you reach out to me, I will first focus on my priorities and when and if I do get time, then I will probably look at your problem.
“You’re not the center of everyone”
All planets revolve around the Sun in our solar system. But the world doesn’t revolve around you. Once you understand that this world doesn’t revolve around you, you will be patient.
If you want to be successful, you must have patient. Don't get discouraged if things don’t move with your speed. Continue to do what you believe in and what you love. Your time will come and some day you will find the right person who will listen to you.
Be persistent.
There are times when you do not get response you expect from other people. Why should you? Remember, they have their own priorities. Everyone is going through their own problems and have their own priorities.
If you really want to reach out to someone, try to be patient and try again after some time. You may still not get a response. Try to find other people who can help you and keep looking until you get what you are looking for.
“Failures are life lessons”
Here is one of my favorite quotes from movie Rocky:
“Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!”
― Sylvester Stallone, Rocky Balboa
The world is open for business.
In this world, opportunities are everywhere. In past decade, we’ve shrunk the world in a small device called smartphone. Today, you can do anything and everything via your phone. If you want to find help, you can get help as long as you are willing to work for it. If you want to connect with right people, you will connect with right people, as long as you are wiling to work for it.
You're not alone.
Here is the good part. You're not alone. Even the most successful and famous people have gone through these problems. They failed and failed but got up and tried again. At times, they lost their patience too. But they were persistent. Even after failing several times, they didn't give up on their dreams.
Steve Jobs founded Apple Computers on April 1, 1976, with his college dropout partner Steve Wozniak in Jobs’ garage. When Wozniak left Apple in 1983, Jobs hired John Sculley to be the president, who later fired Jobs 1985. Jobs started bunch of other ventures including the NeXT Software. When Apple was going down the hill, Apple hired back Steve Jobs and his software in 1997. Later, Apple become the first trillion dollar company in the world.
"I'm convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the nonsuccessful ones is pure perseverance."
- Steve Jobs
Abraham Lincoln failed many times and ended up being one of the most prominent figures in the history of the United States and the world.
- Lost job, 1832
- Defeated for legislature, 1832
- Failed in business, 1833
- Elected to legislature, 1834
- Sweetheart (Ann Rutledge) died, 1835
- Had nervous breakdown, 1836
- Defeated for Speaker, 1838
- Defeated for nomination for Congress, 1843
- Elected to Congress, 1846
- Lost renomination, 1848
- Rejected for Land Officer, 1849
- Defeated for Senate, 1854
- Defeated for nomination for Vice-President, 1856
- Again defeated for Senate, 1858
- Elected President, 1860
"I will prepare and some day my chance will come."
- Abraham Lincoln
Steven Spielberg was rejected by the University of Southern California School Of Cinematic Arts three times and ended up being one of the most successful filmmakers in the world.
“I don’t dream at night, I dream at day, I dream all day; I’m dreaming for a living.”
– Steven Spielberg
Michael Jordan was not selected for his high school's varsity basketball team and ended up being the greatest player ever played the game of basketball in history.
“I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot, and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
– Michael Jordan
After Harrison Ford's first small movie role, a filmmaker told him he would not succeed in the movie business, he should get a job as a truck driver. Harrison Ford ended up becoming one of the most popular actors of his time.
Conclusion.
It's simple. You want something. You must go after it with full potential. There will be times when things will not go your way. You must be patient but persistent.
Recommended Readings
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