Just when you are making great strides with practicing patience, in walks that guy. The one who is never satisfied, the one who never thanks you for going above and beyond, the one who you wish would fire you already and quit making you feel like garbage. You think you might blow this time. After all, you are human, and you have your limits. You’ve tried the patient route before, but it’s to the point where it feels flat-out toxic to keep doing business with this one.

Patience is like good health: You can never have too much of it. We can all stand to work on developing more patience. Personally, I have to make conscious efforts every single day to practice patience, which means I have to also be hyper aware of the opportunities to flex my patience muscle. A waiter forgetting to bring my food out after several reminders becomes an opportunity to improve my patience skills. A client who missed our second rescheduled call is an opportunity to turn patience into a professional practice.

John M. Sweeney is the founder of a social movement called Suspended Coffees. In his article, “Kindness Makes Good Business,” Sweeney describes himself as being, among other things, a kindness coach, saying that making others happy had always been his mission in life. This is why, when it came to his career, he found himself flailing. For two-and-a-half years he was unemployed and felt he had no purpose. Then he read about an old tradition called cafe sospeso or “suspended coffee,” which began in the cafes of Naples,

One of the many reasons perfection is unattainable is because our desire for it relies on the delusion that we can control things. Although we can control how disciplined we are, whether we dedicate our time to our work, or even how we treat others, let’s face it, controlling the daily goings-on is not just a myth, it’s a pipe dream. Could I control the fact that the signal on my cell dropped while in the middle of a long-awaited consultation?

A simple “thank you” leads customers to spend more, employees to get more done, and vendors to pay and deliver on time. It’s what Gary Vaynerchuk, social media expert and author of The Thank You Economy, says will give businesses the upper hand.
“We’re living in what I like to call the ‘Thank You Economy,’ because only the companies that can figure out how to mind their manners in a very old-fashioned way—and do it authentically—are going to have a prayer of competing,” Vaynerchuk said in an Entrepreneur.com column.

The bottom line is: We all want to feel as if we matter to others. We want our lives to be meaningful, to have meaningful exchanges and relationships, and know that we are investing time into doing something that is bigger than ourselves. We want to connect and bond, because those things give us meaning. Gratitude is the way in which we tell others they are living lives that matter and it is the way in which we can practice living to remind us that every moment counts.

A plethora of research in the positive psychology field points to the benefits of making a practice out of being grateful by keeping a gratitude journal—a designated place, whether on a computer or in a notebook, where you write down five things you experienced throughout the day or week for which you have been grateful. While you can certainly write these gratitude moments down every day, research says that entries can be a bit more explanatory and even done a few times a week to reap the benefits.20 Because humans are wired for negativity bias—the propensity to remember the bad things in life over the good things—journaling about what we have found to be blessings each day,

Being grateful seems like something you do for others, but it is a wonderfully selfish act as well. For years now, books on mental health have been touting the benefits gratitude offers, and the same benefits—increased productivity, connection, energy, health, and motivation—leak into our business lives. So although saying thanks has positive effects on those who hear it, it turns out that those who are thankful have lots to gain. After more than two decades of global research,

When Rising Tide Natural Market in Glen Cove, New York, celebrated 40 years in business, founder and owner Jerry Farrell decided to thank his community for its patronage and support, and for growing his business into one of the most successful natural food stores on Long Island. The birthday bash was complete with a barbecue, live music, store discounts, and free goodies. “I’ve made so many friendships over 40 years and I learn so much from our customers,” Farrell told the Record-Pilot newspaper.