“Patience is waiting. Not passively waiting. That is laziness. But to keep going when the going is hard and slow – that is patience. The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.” — Leo Tolstoy
Active patience pays off
The difference is between active patience and passive patience, and we believe it’s active patience that pays off.
Active patience is moving with intention
Similarly, active patience is about moving (and not moving) with intention, consistently weighing resources and opportunity costs, and recognizing the compounding rewards of high trust and persistence so that you’re best positioned to act on an opportunity when it presents itself.
Progress and active waiting
The long game requires a plan. It demands clear vision, helpful structure, and healthy incentives that promote active patience and curb tendencies towards frenetic action, short feedback loops, and quick wins (over sustainable ones) in the name of showing progress.
When can you test for patience?
If you don’t have the financial, mental, or emotional discipline to withstand a decline or a period of extreme underperformance, you don’t have the ability to be patient.
Immediate vs delayed gratification
In short, our brains are hard-wired, and frequently incentivized, to favor the present and the short term. Present bias affects our perception of and willingness to act on losses and gains.
Waiting longer also means…
Patience requires endurance against obstacles, both known and unanticipated. The longer your time horizon, the more disasters you’ll experience. Most people don’t bear hardship well and quit. Depending on luck, periods of extreme hardship and under-performance may come before any success, leading to an expectation of failure.
Power
There is incredible power in having the time and space to strategically and intentionally choose the right investment opportunities … and hold them.
Compounding
Patience and a missionary mindset show that everything compounds. Compounding looks negligible in the short run and is shocking in the long run.