“Good things come to those who wait.” We’ve all heard or read this saying hundreds of times over our lifetimes, but unfortunately many of us apply this saying incorrectly when it comes to our lives. It’s supposed to push towards a mindset of patience, of not rushing things, recommending that you don’t get ahead of yourself, making it so you won’t get frustrated when you’re in the process of achieving success but are yet to see the results. If this is how you interpret and actively USE this quote, then you are on the proper path.

Unfortunately, most people simply use this quote to help them feel good and assured while they laze around procrastinating and not actually doing anything that will propel them towards the results they actually want. So when they’ve gone six months with no signs of results — because they haven’t put in the requisite effort, definitely not with any level of consistency — they soothe their egos by saying “Good things come to those who wait.” It’s just used as an out to excuse laziness and a lack of initiative, and then people hit 30, 40, 50 years old are and are still waiting for that “good thing” to come.

The honest truth of the matter is good things don’t come to those who wait, they come to those who work. The greatest results come from putting in the work, consistently and proactively. The “waiting” part comes when it’s about the actual results; the results you want aren’t going to come five minutes after you put in the work. There’s going to be a lag — that lag can be days, weeks, months, years, decades, whatever. But if you’re doing the proper work — and are doing said work properly — you will see the results; it just depends on how much work you’re putting in. So the mentality has to be to be extremely aggressive when it comes to putting in the work that you know you need to put in, and the patience comes in when it comes to receiving compensation for those efforts.

That’s how good things come to those who wait.