“Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.” — A.A. Milne
It’s all too easy to find ourselves wrapped up in a lifestyle centred around urgency, always looking for quick wins, instant gratification, same-day delivery etc. In this space, patience can feel like an old-fashioned virtue. But when it comes to building a life of meaning and financial resilience, patience is not just a virtue. It is power.
One of the hardest lessons we help clients navigate is this: the best decisions often don’t feel rewarding in the moment. For example, staying invested through a volatile market, passing on a flashier purchase to preserve future freedom or making small, regular contributions when it feels like the progress is too slow to matter.
Our brains have become wired for immediacy. We want to see results, and we want them now. It’s not weakness, it’s our programming. Our ancestors didn’t have to save for retirement or weather global markets; they often needed to act quickly to survive. That instinct remains strong in us today, but it can lead us astray when the goal is long-term growth rather than immediate relief.
Behavioural scientists call this present bias: the tendency to overvalue immediate rewards compared to future ones. It’s part of being human, but it’s also why cultivating patience is so powerful.
In financial planning, patience can feel lonely. While others might chase fads or try to “time the market,” it takes quiet confidence to stick to your strategy and trust that steady, deliberate steps forward will take you further than a sprint followed by collapse.
If you’ve ever planted a tree, you’ll know the feeling. At first, it looks like nothing is happening. For months, sometimes years, it seems fragile, small, even stagnant. Then one day, you realise it’s no longer just a tree; it’s shade, it’s shelter, it’s beauty you couldn’t have rushed.
We see the same transformation in the lives of our clients. The couple who stayed invested during a market downturn and now enjoy the retirement they dreamed of. The business owner who resisted the temptation to overextend and now has the freedom and cash flow to expand on their own terms. The young professional who started small and watched their savings quietly grow into something life-changing.
Patience doesn’t mean doing nothing. It means doing the right things consistently, intentionally and allowing them the time to work.
So here’s a gentle question to reflect on: what would it look like for you to trust the process, even when you can’t yet see the progress?
We’re here to walk with you, helping you stay focused on what truly matters… and reminding you that patience is, indeed, part of your financial plan.
We advise, you thrive.