Patience and Persistence

Why the Long Game Matters

Most people start an online business with a spark of excitement. They picture quick results: sales within days, an audience within weeks, and most likely, financial freedom within months.

But here’s the reality: online businesses are rarely an overnight success. Yes, you’ll see stories of people “making it big” fast, but those are the exceptions, not the rule. Behind most thriving businesses is a story of months (sometimes years) of consistent effort, trial and error, and persistent belief.

The reason so many who start an online business quit isn’t because they lack ability. It’s because they lack patience. They expect a sprint when the game is actually a marathon.

This week, we’ll talk about how to build the mindset and habits needed to stay the course. We’ll break it into three parts:

1. Why Patience Is the Unsung Hero of Success – reframing how you view time spent building your business.
2. Persistence: The Fuel That Keeps You Going – how to push through when motivation fades – and it will!
3. Practical Long-Game Strategies – how to set yourself up for steady, sustainable growth for the long road ahead.

So here we go!

Section 1: Why Patience Is the Unsung Hero of Success

The Illusion of Overnight Success

Social media loves to highlight the “overnight wins.” Someone goes viral, racks up 100K followers, or lands a huge payday seemingly out of nowhere.

But peel back the curtain, and you’ll see years of practice. Failed attempts as well as many, many lessons learned in the shadows. That “overnight” moment is usually the tipping point of long, unseen persistence.

If you’re persistent enough and do a little “sleuthing”, any one of the mentors currently worth listening to will tell you the same story: They stumbled. They fell. They got up. They stumbled. They fell. They got up. The amount of time my mentor Dean Holland spent trying to just make $1 would probably make any other person quit. He had the patience and persistence to continue his journey, all the while learning the ins and outs of the online world.

I’ve seen many quit since I started my online venture. I would say that persistence, patience and the knowledge I gained where the only reasons why I didn’t quit. Let’s not forget: Patience allows you to stick around long enough for your own tipping point to arrive. And it will, if you’re patient!

Why Time Is Your Greatest Asset And Downfall

An online business is really like compound interest when you invest. The content you post today may not bring immediate results, but it lays bricks for the future. Sophie, who works with Dean and his Internet Profits team, talks about a blog post that she wrote two years ago that gave a reader the necessary push to start his online venture. Don’t forget:

• A blog post can rank in search engines months later.
• A YouTube video can suddenly take off a year after being uploaded.
• An email subscriber may buy from you after following for six months or more.

Without patience, you pull out before the compounding effect kicks in.

The Trap of Short-Term Thinking

We unfortunately (or fortunately – depends how you see it), live in the “I need it now” world! With Amazon being able to deliver an item the next day, we’ve gone so far out of what was an ordinary delivery period, something like 5 business days, that anything that takes more than two days will most likely not be bought.

It’s created a short-term thinking paradigm that seems to also encompass our every day tasks. When we think of short-term thinking, it usually can sound like:

• “This isn’t working. I’ve been at it for three weeks.”
• “I’ve opened my website for 2 weeks now and nobody’s buying. Maybe I should quit.”
• “If I don’t get 500 subscribers within a week like they told me I could, I’ll try something else.”

So many times, we’ve seen online businesses collapse and close not because the model is broken, but because the founder didn’t give it enough time. Case in point: last year I was part of a blog hopping group which consisted of members of the group reading and commenting on each others weekly blog entries. Of the more than 30 members last year, I believe we’re about 5 of us that continued.

The takeaway: Patience isn’t passive. It’s the active choice to keep planting seeds, trusting that growth takes time.

Section 2: Persistence — The Fuel That Keeps You Going

Motivation vs. Discipline

Motivation is like a spark. We can all relate to being highly motivated when starting a new job. Starting to train physically so you can improve your health. One thing is for sure: motivation will get you started, but that motivation, once you’ve started, can also fade away rather quickly.

On the other hand, persistence is discipline in action. It’s what keeps you working on your business when excitement dips. And believe me, that will happen.

For example:

• Motivation will tell you: “I feel like writing today.”
• Persistence will get you to do: “I’ll write today whether I feel like it or not.”

This distinction is what separates dreamers from doers. The willingness to take action even when you don’t feel like it.

The Reality of Setbacks

Now before I go on, there is one reality within the realm of being an online entrepreneur: we face obstacles and setbacks. Unfortunately, there’s nothing you can do about these apart from forging ahead. Like everything else in life, these will happen – sometimes at the worst times imaginable.

• Posts flop.
• Products don’t sell.
• Algorithms shift.
• Tech breaks.

Persistence is the ability to absorb those setbacks without letting them derail your journey. It’s saying, “Okay, that didn’t work. What’s my next move?”

Persistence Builds Resilience

Think of persistence as a muscle. Every time you push through a difficult moment, you strengthen your capacity to handle bigger challenges. We’ve all gone through plenty of these. I remember during basic training, I was asked plenty of times how I could continue smiling as if I was on a hike; I’d tell everyone, the hurting will one day stop and my tenacity will make it worth it.

You need to remember: resilience becomes a competitive advantage. While others quit at the first sign of a struggle, you adapt, you keep going, and ultimately outlast everyone who quits along the way.

The takeaway: Persistence turns time (patience) into progress. Without it, patience just becomes waiting.

Section 3: Practical Long-Game Strategies

Patience and persistence sound good in theory. But how do you practice them daily? Let’s get practical because just talking about it and telling you is one thing. You need to be able to have a strategy to put them in practice.

Strategy 1: Set Process Goals, Not Just Outcome Goals

Instead of obsessing over results (which you can’t fully control), focus on actions (which you can control).

For example:

• Outcome goal: “I want 1,000 followers in 3 months.”
• Process goal: “I’ll post 4 times a week for 12 weeks. I’ll review this process every week to make sure that my followers are growing.”

The main difference between the two? Outcome goals motivate. They represent the finish line that you want to get to. Process goals, on the other hand, build consistency. They help you see the road ahead to get to that finish line. Together, they keep you grounded in the long game because it’s only when you look at it as a long-term process that you will achieve that goal.

Strategy 2: Track Small Wins

Persistence is fueled by progress but only if you notice it. We all want to win the lottery but it’s rather ironic how many of us could get to that million dollars if we changed our spending habits. Keep a simple log of wins, no matter how small. Small wins become big wins over time.

Small wins can be:

• A positive comment left on your blog.
• A new subscriber that finally decided to join you.
• A better engagement rate after you’ve reviewed the analytics.

These tiny wins remind you that progress is happening, even if big results haven’t shown up yet.

Strategy 3: Build Sustainable Habits

It’s tempting to go all-in, but burnout kills persistence. Instead, design habits you can actually maintain. I’ve talked about this in a previous blog. We all have 24 hours in a day. Some of us have more time than others because of work or family commitments.

There’s nothing wrong with saying that you will put in 1 hour a day for your business. That’s 7 hours a week. 28 hours a month. You’d be surprised how better you become after you’ve been consistently doing this after a few months.

• If daily blogging feels overwhelming, aim for once a week. I had wanted to blog 2 or 3 times a week but found I didn’t have the time. I doubled the length of my weekly blogs which proved better for me.
• If 1-hour videos drain you, start with 10-minute ones. Heck, even start with 1 or 3 minutes ones. Not only will you get better with time but will take less time to make them and will most likely be able to increase your video lengths because of that.
• If constant posting is unsustainable, batch-create once a week. I’ve done this numerous times – mostly when I had scheduled vacation times.

Persistence thrives when your pace is realistic. You can’t decide to run in a marathon if you just put on your sneakers and started running. Believe me, it won’t work!

Strategy 4: Learn to Love the Boring Stuff

Success often hides in the boring, repetitive work. You know the kind: replying to comments, sending emails, tweaking systems. The entrepreneurs who win are those who fall in love with the process, not just the outcome.

Think of persistence like training for a marathon. The daily runs aren’t glamorous, but they prepare you for the big race. Rain or shine.

Strategy 5: Surround Yourself With Persistence

I truly believe that your environment shapes your behavior. I’ve stated it before, you need to join communities of like-minded entrepreneurs. The community that is part of the Internet Profits family is truly special. Everyone who is part of it are truly rooting for everyone’s success.

You need to follow people who share their process (not just wins), and, find an accountability partner. This can be your spouse, partner. Anyone who is aware of your online business and could keep you “in line” when you need it most during challenging times. When you’re surrounded by persistence and support, it rubs off on you.

The takeaway: Long-term strategies protect you from burnout, keep you motivated, and help you actually enjoy the journey.

Conclusion: Success Loves the Long Game

Building an online business is less like winning the lottery and more like farming. You plant seeds, nurture them, protect them from storms, and wait for harvest. That requires patience (trusting time) and persistence (consistent effort).

The entrepreneurs who make it aren’t the ones who find the easiest shortcuts. They’re the ones who play the long game. The ones who show up day after day, even when results are invisible.

So ask yourself this this week:

• Am I willing to trust the process, even if results take longer than I hoped?
• Am I building habits I can sustain for years, not just weeks?
• Am I playing the long game, or just chasing quick wins?

Because the truth is: your success isn’t hiding. It’s waiting for you. And the longer you persist with patience, resilience and discipline, the closer you get to it.

Like what you’re reading or have any questions? Don’t be shy, write it up in the comments section for me to reply and more importantly, don’t forget to subscribe to my blog for continuous insights and tips.

Trust the journey – victories await along the way!