Impatient People: I Want Everything And Have It Now

Impatient people are everywhere. You know who we’re talking about. They are constantly frustrated and nothing satisfies them. When they are happy, the joy is short-lived and characterized by anxiety.

In the next moment, they need more. Few things give rise to negative emotions and make it so difficult to come to terms with someone like impatience.

Most of us know a person like this. Or maybe you even have your own impatient tendencies that are hard to control. But what does this condition do to you? What are the emotional and psychological effects?

First of all, this lifestyle can lead to severe stress and anxiety. British author John Ruskin said that hope prevents one from being happy when it is accompanied by impatience.

Thus, impatience limits your well-being and makes it difficult to get along with other people. If you learn to handle it, you will be peaceful, patient and centered.

Impatient people and their constant frustration

Some people believe that impatience is on the rise, especially among young people. Nowadays, children and teenagers have a very low tolerance for frustration.

They need instant gratification, “likes” on their photos and constant positive encouragement from those around them.

However, the problem is more complex than just relying on social media. A study from the National University of Singapore analyzed e.g. a group of students and got very interesting results.

Dr. Xin Zhang, co-author of the study, suggested that there was a link between impatience and cognitive as well as social incompetence.

Impatient people are impulsive, act without thinking and are incapable of enjoying the present. They also tend to be quick to judge.

Impatient people do not think much about the information they receive due to their short attention span and tendency to change their minds.

When you are always in a hurry, there is no time to consider other perspectives and learn from them.

Impatient people also tend to have more relationship problems. It is difficult to agree with, because when they want something, they want it now. They do not show respect, understanding and emotional intimacy.

Impatience is not just a lack of patience, but a lack of education

Basically, impatience is a learned behavior. Your culture, your environment and your upbringing determine how patient you are.

Parents often fail to teach their children to wait patiently and accept not to receive immediate satisfaction.

Instead of waiting patiently, they get ants in the brawl when the internet connection is slow  or when someone does not answer an SMS fast enough…

Patience must be taught at home and at school. But each individual is responsible for exercising it every day, even though society is trying to get you to move forward in 200 jerks.

Tips for controlling impatience

You can turn your impatience into patience if you learn to control your emotions and immediate impulses. To do this, reflect on the following questions:

• When do I become impatient? What is the most common context? It is worth stopping to analyze the situations where we lose control and our impatient side emerges. For many it is driving, for others trying to raise a child or just trying to get along with others.

• What triggers it? The second step is to analyze the triggers. Here are some examples: “I get impatient when my son takes too long to wake up and go to school”, “I get very impatient when I sit in traffic jams” or “I can not wait for test results, it makes me bad mood”.
• What do you do to deal with impatience? Try to be aware of whether you are using strategies to control your impatience. Are they enough?
• Use rational focus:  a useful strategy for dealing with impatience is to work on the problem with your rational mind. If you e.g. becomes anxious when your teenage son does not care about his responsibilities, you should try to avoid not getting angry at him. After all, being in a bad mood will only make things worse. Instead, talk to him patiently and reason to avoid quarreling.

• Mindfulness:  Finally, it is a good idea to look at strategies such as mindfulness, or conscious presence, as they can be very helpful in calming an impatient mind. They also help you deal with attention and emotions.

Impatience is inevitable

It is clear that impatient people will always exist. In some circumstances, everyone has the potential to behave in this way.

But  you should use good strategies to keep your mind calm. It will significantly improve your quality of life.