Patience and speed

I hear these two words a lot, but rarely in the same context. I don't interact with many companies or individuals that claim to be both patient and nimble in their business. It's usually one or the other.

In my personal experience, there have been times when I felt that I was being patient, but in hindsight I was simply being lazy. It was procrastination in a guise of patience. But the flipside was also true. There have been times in my business execution when I thought that I was really moving fast, but I still had my foot over the brake.

Every race car driver knows that the turns are dangerous and you can't drive with reckless abandon all the time, but in those straightaways...you have to push that pedal down until it won't go any further.

It's a careful balance - to both have faith in your process and not expect immediate results - but also to execute aggressively day in and day out as the landscape changes. For instance, I plan 36 months into the future. I know where I'm going and I have a rough idea of how to get there; each day I'm carefully laying down bricks to eventually build up a complete wall. However, I make every effort to adapt and course-correct as needed. Fortunately, I have a good group of people around me that encourage me to do so and call me on my BS when I make excuses to be "patient," when really I'm just rationalizing taking the easy route. And if I'm still stuck, I like to think of Gary Vaynerchuk's work ethic - to aspire to always be trying to put yourself out of business because it's a lot more fun if you're the one doing it versus someone else.

On this topic of patience and speed, there are two big things I've learned building Bespoke Edge and Motus Fitness. Firstly, that being patient and having faith in my long game isn't easy. It's super, super hard to keep doing the same thing day in and day out without encouragement. Secondly, that I can execute a hell of a lot faster than I think I can.

But there's a third element that I think really helps to bind together Patience and Speed: Process. You have to enjoy the process. It doesn't matter if we're talking about building a business, improving upon your fitness, building a personal relationship, whatever it may be - if you haven't genuinely found a way to enjoy the process, then I think that your success is always going to be stifled.

If you don't enjoy meeting new people and building a client list, then you probably aren't going to have the patience to build a multimillion dollar company. And if you don't enjoy trying new things with what may feel like minimal planning - whether it's a wild and crazy marking tactic (snapchat anyone??) or A/B testing copy at a moment's notice - you probably won't be fast enough to outperform your competitors.

Of course, speed is relative, right? Doesn't it vary by industry, by company, by city? Nope. Not at all. Instead, the speed with which you can get stuff done, how fast you adapt, how quickly you can act, is completely and utterly up to you. We all know when we gave something our best effort. Similarly, we know damn well when we had a little left in the tank, when we took our foot off the gas a little early maybe.

Here's the takeaway: I don't think we can really understand the value and effectiveness of being patient in our business endeavors without at times being nimble and moving extremely fast when it really matters.

Patience and Speed. Apply just the right amount of pressure on each one of these levers and you might just make a diamond.

I founded the menswear brand, Bespoke Edge, and the fitness blog, Motus Fitness. Be sure to follow me here on LinkedIn for my articles covering everything from SEO and SEM to how to correct poor office posture to practical style tips. You'll learn something new and probably roll your eyes at my sense of humor.