I don’t know who needs to hear this, but delayed doesn’t mean denied. Many of us have had most areas of our lives mapped out for a long time. However, despite our best efforts, some of those plans haven’t manifested just yet. When your plans don’t go as planned, you can become very frustrated. So what do you do? Scrap your plan and start over? Or do you keep going? When you have a vision for your life that won’t leave you alone and you’ve done the work to make things happen, but things aren’t happening according to your timeline, don’t be discouraged. Delayed doesn’t mean denied. Until things come together, here’s what you should do:
Write it Down and Make it Plain
Whatever that vision is that you have for your life that won’t leave you alone, write it down and make it plain. By make it plain, I mean every detail. Also, don’t only write down the what, but also the why. Why? Because in those times when you’re tempted to give up and throw in the towel when things aren’t happening in your timing, you can go back and remind yourself of your why. Sometimes your why will have to be enough to get you through until your vision is realized.
Stay the Course
When your vision is delayed you’ll be tempted to quit, but stay the course. Unfortunately, living in our instant gratification society, we’ve become accustom to getting what we want when we want it. Things don’t always work out that way. Many things are out of our control and just take time. Quitting prematurely will only cause further delay. The time is going to pass anyway so you might as well stay the course until your vision is realized.
Keep the Faith
One of the hardest things to do while you’re dealing with a delay is to keep the faith. When all you have is a vision that hasn’t come into reality and you’ve been trying to make it happen for some time, it can be very hard to keep believing that it ever will. In those times, you have to believe that if you continue to do your part, everything else will eventually fall into place. Your faith is what will keep you moving forward, despite the delay.
Kill the Negative Thoughts and Talk
When you’re dealing with delay, you have to kill the negative thoughts and talk. That goes for your own negative thoughts and talk, as well as others. Negativity will kill any faith and confidence you have, so avoid it at all cost. I’m not suggesting you be delusional or lie to yourself about your circumstances, but negative thoughts and talk won’t do you any good. As soon as they pop up, shut them down. You have to remain hopeful when dealing with life’s delays.
Patience is Key
If you’re anything like me, patience doesn’t come natural for you. However, when you’re dealing with delays, it’s a necessary virtue. We love to think we’re in control, when the reality is, we’re not. Sure, we can control ourselves, but that’s about it. We can’t control other people, timing, opportunities, etc. With many things in life, all we can do is our part, and patiently wait for everything else to come together. When you’ve done your part be patient and wait for your outcome.
My own Story
Most of the topics I write about here are from my own personal experience. This one isn’t any different. If you’ve read Nzuri Noire’s about page, you know I’m a licensed attorney. You also know that, up until this point, my career hadn’t gone as I’d hoped. Despite all the years of networking, job applications and sitting on boards, my career hadn’t gone as planned. I was ready to throw in the towel and move on to something else. Just recently, I applied for my dream job and got it. It took me longer than I’d hoped to get it, but delay wasn’t denial. It didn’t happen in my timing, but it did happen. If things worked out for me, surely they can work out for you too.
Are you dealing with your own delays? Drop a comment below. If you found this post useful, please feel free to share it.
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