A new year has begun and we are nearing the end of the first month. I just have to ask: <em>Are we there yet</em>?

A few weeks ago, most of us set some goals to achieve, new habits to embrace, and <a href="http://www.thindifference.com/2015/01/14/role-patience-purpose/" target="_blank">big projects</a> to start and complete. But are we there yet?

Impatience sets in. We are like our kids in the backseat wondering if we have arrived yet. Anxiousness seeps in. Just getting there seems more important than the drive.

Impatience becomes the death knell of new goals, habits, and projects. Instead of trying to overcome our impatience, we need to refocus it. Impatience can deliver new destinations if we are willing to really embrace our impatience in positive ways.

<h3>3 Ways To Embrace Impatience For Real Change</h3>

Impatience can be turned into a positive way to harness our energy. Highlighted below are three ways to embrace your impatience:

<ol>
<li><strong>Use Your Impatience To Learn & Hone Your Craft</strong> - There are no shortcuts in leadership or in life. We desperately want all things to be easy. We deserve it to be so, right? Achieving our goals is never a straight path though. We simply need to do the work. All through the process of doing the work, we need to learn, adapt, and improve.
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Through the <em>zigs</em>, we learn new things. Through the <em>zags</em>, we strengthen our character. Zig-zags produce a meaningful, robust outcome if we take the time to work through them and grow. Embracing our impatience to learn will keep us growing and enable us to be better leaders and followers.</li>
<li><strong>Use Your Impatience To Step Up</strong> - Too often, our wanting of a quick result distracts us from the real issues or underlying problems. Sugarcoating evaporates quickly and provides no substance for the long haul. When we are wanting, we need to raise our sights.
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What really needs to happen to take a step up in what we are doing and how we are doing it? When we really focus on the answer to this question, we begin to see more clearly on what we need to do in order to make a real, lasting difference. Finding the cause of our impatience may enable us to better understand our enduring mission.</li>
<li><strong>Use Your Impatience To Breathe & Discern</strong> - Impatience clutters. We see others achieving things more quickly than we are. We see so much information that we need to read and understand to become smarter. We bury ourselves in the mass rather than stopping and thinking through what impact we want to have and what we need to know to get there.
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In the mix is who we need to work with. In the storm of activity, community, and people, we need to breathe. We need to think and then act thoughtfully and with full purpose. Leaning into our impatience can clear space to clarify what matters most.</li>
</ol>
<h3>Tapping Our Impatience</h3>

Are we there yet? The answer is likely </em>no</em>. However, tapping into our impatience may guide us in how we use our time to learn, step-up, and reflect. We cannot ignore our impatience; we need to calmly address the stir and find ways to be productive in achieving our goals.

As leaders, we <a href="http://leadchangegroup.com/leaders-initiate/">set the example</a>. We need to exhibit patience in:

<ul>
<li>Having fruitful conversations with colleagues and team members.</li>
<li>Understanding different perspectives in how to solve problems.</li>
<li>Learning new ways to meet new marketplace challenges.</li>
<li>Becoming a better leader, every day.</li>
</ul>

Moving our impatience to an art of learning, making a difference, and being fully present in the moment will turn the question <em>are we there yet</em> into a statement of achievement, joy, and collaborative relationships.