Reframing Impatience: From Problem To Possibility
- Stefano Palumbo
- Mar 15
- 2 min read
My client came to me with a familiar frustration this week: “I need to learn to be more patient and how to prevent being impatient?”
He is highly ambitious, deeply committed, and sharp and talented and he's doing everything he can to reach his goals.
Constantly pushing, he's rushing results, making himself anxious when things didn’t move fast enough, and at times, doubting they'll ever happen at all.
Here's what we did:
How We Create Impatience >>
At first, he defined "patience" and what it means to him.
We quickly learned that it's about ..."Being okay with accepting that certain things take time to grow. You cannot just work more to make them up happen."
Next, we reviewed how he is a master at creating impatience, creating a mindmap of all the ways he achieves this effortlessly, without conscious thought.
There were so many ways!
Seeing this remarkable ability through an external lens really helped him realise his responsibility in being impatient and ultimately, opportunities for him to change them.
And then we had a breakthrough.
Cake Analogy And The Missing Ingredient >>
We used an cooking analogy, a classic in impactful coaching: baking a cake.
No matter how good your ingredients are, no matter how well you mix them, if you don’t give the cake enough time in the oven, it doesn’t turn out right.
Time is not an extra or nice-to-have. It’s part of the process.
So often, we treat time as an obstacle, something standing between us and our results. But what if we factor in time as an actual an ingredient?
Rushing doesn’t make things happen faster but actually prevents things from unfolding the way they should?
This shift in thinking hit hard. The client started to see impatience differently—not as something to “fix” but as a signal that he was resisting a fundamental truth: great things take time.
The Real Work: Purpose & Fun >>
But patience isn’t just about waiting. It’s about staying connected to why you’re doing something in the first place.
Once my client started seeing time as an essential ingredient, we went deeper.
• What’s the purpose of this project?
• What makes it meaningful beyond the result?
• What would change if you found a way to enjoy the process, not just the outcome?
When he reconnected with the why behind his work, and how enjoyable it is, something shifted. His impatience transformed into presence. Instead of feeling frustrated by how long things were taking, he started looking for ways to make the journey more enjoyable.
The Shift Is Not Enough >>
Insight without action is just knowledge. There is value in knowledge and unlimited possibility in action.
On a practical level, my client's next step is factoring in specific time periods and deadlines for his goals and projects.
"Stretch his patience" is how I put it to him.
Make It Real For You >>
What have you seen for yourself in this article?
Where are you being impatient and what is it costing you?
What would shift if, instead of seeing delay, you recognised an essential ingredient in your success?
Patience isn’t really about waiting. It’s about trusting the process.