As 2011, comes to a close I find myself in a state of wonder. And as I stand back now, surveying the year as a whole, viewing the unprecedented business and personal breakthroughs that came to me through the most strange and unexpected corridors, one irrational truth becomes clear:
Only infinite patience brings immediate results.
In 2011 I discovered that ‘patience’ — that often-elusive state of complete trust in the moment and detachment — when combined with clear underlying goals and intentions, is the royal road to to creating anything that truly matters as quickly as possible.
Now, I do realize that from that high-strung, Type A “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” worldview this idea might seem at first foolish and naive.
But it works. Patience works!
My roller-coaster 2011 experiences proved it to me beyond the shadow of any doubt.
After many years of hardened effort, in early 2011 I found myself stressed and exhausted from cumulative years of forcing myself and others to move things forward. Everything went belly-up, and I simply gave up.
For the first time in years, in 2011, I simply stopped trying. Raised the white flag. Surrendered. And it was terrible. And in that state of terrible surrender a funny thing began to unfold:
Everything I had been striving for for years started to happen, effortlessly. Like magic.
- My physical health improved and I lost 30 lbs without forcing myself to diet or do extreme exercise of any kind.
- My business started booming and I tripled my income an from the year before without even making so much as a sales call.
- My creative life flourished, with the inspired vision of my next book and music project coming into clear focus with little or no conscious effort to figure them out.
So strange…It all started to happen, of itself, automatically once i gave up on trying and allowed myself to sit in that strangely unfamiliar state of complete and utter patience. It boggles the mind.
And if it sounds like I’m a true believer, it’s because I am. The gods of patience have taught me powerful, game-changing lessons in 2011, and for this I will be eternally grateful.
I have no idea what deep theme or insights 2012 will offer to complement the profound lessons of 2011. But since I’m now a disciple of patience, I suppose I’ll just sit tight and see. In the meantime let me wish you all a very happy, patient and effortless holiday season, en route to whatever it is your heart and soul seeks.
