Whether you like it or not, succeeding in the world we live in is a daily struggle. To achieve success, you’re going to have given everything you have day in and day out. You probably know the expression “no pain, no gain” as well as I do.
 

Along the way, your motivation and resilience will be among your best assets. I say among your best assets because there is another great asset.

Patience is an essential asset

This third essential asset is patience. Many people underestimate their virtues. Yet patience is an essential quality that you will need to demonstrate if you want to have any chance of achieving your most ambitious goals.
 

I often see highly motivated people at the beginning of their adventure do not hold on the distance because of the simple fact that they do not know how to show this famous patience.
 

The result is terrible because these people will eventually give up their goals when with a few adjustments, they could have achieved great things.
 

Seeing someone give up pursuing their goals is always a difficult thing.

The reason many people give up is that they make the fundamental mistake of comparing themselves to others. Before you have achieved the success you want, you may well begin to look to others who have already followed the path you are about to take as your role model.
 

Learning from the success of others can be a good way to learn from those who have already succeeded. This can be akin to mentoring.

You fall into the numbers trap

Unfortunately, many will go further and compare their progress to that of the people they admire so much. As you read stories about their success, you will tell yourself that if someone has reached 10,000 followers on a social network, or 100,000 views on their website in one year, you should do the same.
 

After a year, when you have “only” 300 followers and 1,200 visitors to your website, you will start to worry.

You will need to ask yourself a lot of questions, and you will need to reassure yourself. To do this, you will necessarily seek to talk to other people about it. Whether they are friends, or strangers on the Internet, you will ask questions.
 

No matter what happens, you will have a significant number of negative returns.
 

It’s always like that. People who don’t take action, and who don’t dare to pursue their dreams, are always the first to criticize those who try to achieve great things.
 

The most usual feedback you will get is this:
 

• What’s the point of working so hard for “only” 300 followers?
• At this pace, you’ll never be successful.
• No one is interested in what you’re doing, you should stop.
• You’ll never achieve the same success as people you admire.

Wasting your time with negative opinions is obviously a bad idea.

You know that, but you made the mistake of listening to or reading those reviews.
 

Now that you’ve opened the door, doubt has crept in. You can’t stop thinking about all those negative messages. From a few simple questions, you have gone from total doubt. You no longer have any self-confidence.
 

Bill Gates gives you the solution

To avoid falling into this trap, you must discover this unique advice from Bill Gates:
 

“Don’t compare yourself with anyone in this world… if you do so, you are insulting yourself.”
— Bill Gates

When an entrepreneur like Bill Gates gives that advice, I think you absolutely have to listen to it and then try to understand the message behind it.

With that message, Bill Gates makes it clear that you are unique on this Earth.
 

It is precisely your uniqueness that is your greatest strength. By trying to be like other people, you waste your best asset to achieve great things.
 

In addition to taking away from other people the chance to find out who you really are, and what you can bring to them that is unique in whatever field you are in, you are more likely to fall into the trap of comparison.
 

By comparing yourself to others, you will simply be insulting yourself, as Bill Gates says.

Everyone’s road to success is unique. Everyone goes at his or her own pace. Some will succeed very quickly, while others will take years to get there. That doesn’t matter, because it’s not a competition.
 

Anyone can succeed in life as long as they are highly motivated, patient, and resilient.
 

Patience is the essential quality that will allow you to take the time to really develop your number one asset: your own personality. If you know how to show it, then sooner or later you will be able to achieve great success.
 

Your success will be important, and above all lasting, because you will have built it on something solid and unique: yourself. And that is something that no one will be able to steal or copy from you.
 

In the future, never forget this, and add patience to the many qualities you already possess.

Read on Medium