I’ve worked in startups for 30 years and now I am a small business owner, I've learned a thing or two about the value of patience. But the other day, I came across a line in a Mary Oliver poem that really drove that lesson home: "Things take the time they take. Don't worry."
As someone who's spent decades in the fast-paced worlds of tech, sales and marketing, those words stopped me in my tracks. In startups and small businesses, everything is about hustle and speed. It's about pushing yourself to the limit, racing against the clock to beat the competition. And don't get me wrong - that drive and determination is important. It's what keeps us innovating and growing.
But here's the thing: all that rushing and stressing doesn't actually make things happen any faster. Trust me, I've tried. I've burnt the midnight oil and worked myself into the ground, all in the name of making things happen on my timeline. But at the end of the day, some things just require patience. They require us to take a step back and trust the process.
That's where Mary Oliver's words come in. "Things take the time they take." It's a reminder that for all our strategizing and hard work, life unfolds at its own pace. Sure, we can put in the effort and make smart moves, but ultimately, we can't control every variable. We can't force the market to shift or the perfect opportunity to appear on our schedule.
And that's where the "don't worry" part comes in. Because as any entrepreneur knows, worry is a constant companion. We worry about making payroll, about landing the next client, about staying ahead of the curve. But when we get caught up in that worry cycle, we miss out on the magic that's happening right in front of us. We forget to appreciate the small wins and the everyday joys that make the journey worthwhile.
Which brings me to another line from Oliver's poem that struck a chord: "How many roads did Saint Augustine follow before he became Saint Augustine?" It's a reminder that even the greatest journeys are made up of countless smaller paths. That the people we admire for their success and wisdom didn't get there overnight - they took detours, hit dead ends, and kept on searching until they found their way.
As a startup guy and a small business owner, that's a comforting thought. It means that all the twists and turns of my own journey - the failed ventures and the unexpected pivots - are not roadblocks, but necessary steps on the path to becoming who I'm meant to be. It means that I don't have to have it all figured out right now, as long as I keep showing up and putting one foot in front of the other.
So maybe that's the real lesson here: that the wisdom we seek is not something we arrive at all at once, but something we cultivate over time. That the roads we follow, even the ones that seem to lead nowhere, are all part of the journey. And that if we can learn to embrace the process - to find joy in the waiting and trust in the unfolding - we'll look back one day and see that every step was necessary, every detour was sacred.
Comments