08. Patience: Growing Through the Wait

“You once wished for the life you are currently living, but are you patient enough for this next season?”

In this episode of Hannah’s Healthy Habits, we’re talking about why patience feels so hard in a world built for instant everything—and why embracing the wait is the key to sustainable change.

Patience isn’t just sitting still or passively hoping things work out. It’s active trust in the process: choosing to show up consistently even when results aren’t immediate, reframing frustration as preparation, and giving yourself grace when progress feels slow.

I talk about my own impatience struggles—today’s chaotic mic fail, snow-shoveling surprises, and how I almost gave in but chose patience instead. We explore how our instant-gratification culture (Amazon, DoorDash, quick fixes) makes waiting feel unbearable, and why delayed rewards like writing letters or watching friendships bloom feel so rewarding when they finally arrive.

We talk about:

• Why patience is essential for real, lasting healthy habits 
• Mindset shifts that reframe impatience (waiting as preparation, “cheat meals” as planned indulgences, loneliness as growth)
• The hidden cost of always rushing and the peace that comes from slowing down
• Simple, realistic habits to practice patience daily (leaving early, single-tasking, deep breaths in lines, nurturing a plant, delayed rewards, legs up the wall + reading, and more)
• Why it’s never too late even if you’ve “messed up” this year. Progress is 1% better, one patient choice at a time

This episode is a reminder that patience isn’t about perfection or endless waiting. It’s about deciding with intention to trust the process, do the small things now for your future self, and enjoy the life you once wished for… right in the middle of building it.

You don’t need to be perfectly patient.
You don’t need overnight transformation.
You just need to choose one small, intentional step today.

Thank you for being here, for listening, and for choosing to show up for yourself 

What’s one patience habit you’re trying this week? Drop it in the comments, I’d love to hear where you’re tuning in from!

New episodes Monday. at. 7 am—subscribe for more real talk on mindset, habits, and growing from the inside out.

Follow Me on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hannahshealthyhabits__?igsh=ZGlyODZpd2YweGpq&utm_source=qr

Q&A Form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdhw-kR3arJxrSDd9oYYDkRtuLogvzAedI_nwKW7hVQpeurWA/viewform?usp=dialog

Transcript

0:00

One day you'll look back and realize you once wished for the life you're currently living, but are you patient enough to really enjoy the process of getting there? You don't need a perfect moment to start living a healthier, happier life. Welcome to Hannah's Healthy Habits, a podcast about learning, growing, and building a healthier life from the inside out. And now we're doing it together. Hi guys. Welcome back to the podcast. Today we will be talking all about patience, and that is something I have really been dealing with today, specifically of all days. I went to sit down to record this podcast and I realized that the new mic I have. Doesn't plug into my MacBook. So I broke out my old MacBook, got it all working, and realized that it's too old to connect to the internet, so I couldn't airdrop it to this new one. Yada, yada, yada. First world problems. But long story short, I was very patient. I decided To clear my car off with snow. Luckily, I have my brother's car right now because my car does not, my car doesn't do snow. It eats the snow, it doesn't drive through it, it gets caught. Luckily I have my brother's car. So I'm out there bundled up, brushing this powder of snow off of his car. I just wanna say thank you, that it was just powder and not ice. It was very easy to clear off, but there was probably two feet of snow. Piled up behind his car. I just happened to look over and there were some lights coming from around the corner of the complex I live in, and it was a snowplow, and I thought to myself, I'm gonna walk over there and ask if they can plow behind my car. Yeah, sometimes you just have to ask because what's the worst that's gonna happen? They say no, and then you're in the same position that you already were in. So let it be a lesson to you that sometimes you just have to ask for things and people will say yes, and you might be surprised, and then you don't have to spend the next 30 minutes shoveling snow. It will get done in two minutes Moral of the story. Is I almost called somebody that I probably shouldn't have to deliver a USB adapter, but I did not. I stuck to my guns. I stayed patient and I pushed through. This minor trial in life. Anyway, I guess that kind of introduces us into the topic for today. We'll be talking all about different mindset shifts, some practical tips, and why patience is key to sustainable healthy habits. Patience isn't passive waiting. It's active trust In the process, we've become a society that's used to instant gratification. We have Amazon that can be ordered and delivered the same day or the next day. We have DoorDash and Instacart where you can press a few buttons and we have our groceries or food delivered right to our door. We have GLP ones where people can lose 50 to a hundred pounds in just a few months we constantly have our phones in our hands. We can call, we can text, we can FaceTime. We can communicate with the whole world in a matter of seconds. You can pull up Instagram, Facebook, whatever social media that you use, and look up any question you can. Be entertained by any topic that you could ever imagine. We live in a world that doesn't know how to be bored anymore. We're scrolling out of boredom. We're eating out of boredom. We're doing all of these mindless activities because we don't know how to sit still and how to be bored anymore. One thing I've been doing lately that has helped me practice patience and delayed gratification is writing letters. My cousin is in the Marines and so we've been writing letters back and forth and let me tell you, that will teach you how to be patient. I wrote her a letter and sent it off last Saturday and. I was planning on expecting one around Monday, which is tomorrow, but with the snow, I'm sure it's probably gonna be delayed, and I am being patient. But I am so excited for this letter. It really brings back the joy of having that delayed gratification over the little things. Where are some areas in your life that you can start delaying gratification? Shift your mindset. Practice reframing impatience instead of thinking that it's a waste of time, think of waiting as preparation. What is your definition of hard? For some people pursuing your dreams and facing failure might be hard For other people, it's staying in a job you hate for years. Financial discipline and savings can be hard, but the stress of living paycheck to paycheck can also be hard. Whenever you define what's hard to you, you take control of what you're suffering with, and make sure that it lines up with what you value long term. For me, waking up is hard, but it's harder to go throughout the day, not doing my morning routine, not having those moments to work out and make my breakfast, get myself ready for the day. There are so many diets out there that will give you a day for a cheat meal, but what if you reworded that into a planned indulgence? For me, the word cheat meal has such a negative connotation. Anytime you think of cheating, it's not a good thing. So why are we telling ourselves we can have this cheap meal when in reality it's going to make us feel guilty or shameful for doing it? Where a planned indulgence is a treat, it's a good thing. It's not a cheat meal. It's not something you should feel bad for, but reframing those thoughts and turning it into something positive. Sometimes it's rewarding being lonely into being alone. That's something that I have really struggled with in this season of being single. I have been in long-term relationships most of my life, and I know this season is a season of growth for me and learning how to be alone, but. It is tough. I am so used to being a girlfriend and having someone to constantly be in communication with, and sometimes it can be lonely and sad, but it's reframing those times and realizing that this moment is such a blessing. It's something I'm so grateful for. And. I've wanted this. I've wanted to be able to have this time in my twenties to learn who I am and build something stronger than anything I've ever had. Be patient with where you're at in life. Let the people that aren't meant to be in your life leave and make room for the people that are. I am a rusher. I wanna know right now, I wanna know what it is. I wanna know where it is. I wanna know who it is. I want to know all the things right now. But that is something that I've been working on, slowing down, letting the days go, taking it one step at a time. Let this be your year, even if you feel like you've already messed up, you've already lost track, you've already failed at your diet, you've fallen off of your goals, whatever it means it's not too late. Progress isn't linear. It's one day at a time, one step in the right direction, 1% better every day. Sometimes that 1% can be accomplishing small things, making your bed, brushing your teeth, doing your three daily habits. It doesn't have to be anything crazy, but consistency in giving yourself grace in that process. Being patient with yourself. That's the way that helps us grow the most. Do it for your future self. Sometimes you have to do things in the moment that your future self will thank you for. These things aren't always glamorous and they might not be what you want to do. Some mornings, I really do not want to wake up early and read and do a workout and get all of these things done before the sun is even up. But I have to remind myself that these are the things that make me feel good. These are the things that are going to pay off in the long run. Sometimes when I don't feel like getting out of bed in the morning, I'll tell myself to do this for your future self. Then I'll lay there for a few seconds. I'll count to five and I'll get up. There's this thing called the five second rule, where you basically have about five seconds before your brain will start to talk you out of whatever decision that you're making. So the other day I got home and I had a lot of things I needed to do. My house had random stuff all over the place. I had gotten groceries and I needed to pick somewhere to start. I didn't even read for the morning. I was a mess. I was just. It was a messy morning, and it's okay, but I decided in that moment I was gonna sit down and I was gonna make a brain dump of everything on my mind, whether it was cleaning, putting the dishes away, or prepping meals, reading, whatever, whatever it was, big or small. I made a list of everything and. I'm the type of person that loves lists. If you don't like making lists, you might not like this, but I need to see it on paper. I need to see it in front of me, and I like putting check boxes and checking off the things, even if it's small, taking out the trash, making my bed, laundry, changing my sheets, anything that it is, big, small, whatever. Write it down and check them off. Take the time now to do the things that will matter later. Having a strong foundation makes it easier to execute your plans. Having patience now will create stronger habits, better health, and less stress later. You once wished for the life you're currently living. I have had that in my Instagram bio for a long time, and it is really cool to think about the person I was when I wrote that and, how much growth I've experienced since that stage of my life. One of my goals this year is to grow in my friendships. This is obviously something that takes a lot of patience. As for any relationship in your life, it takes watering these seeds and. Slowly cultivating a group of people that you can depend on, that you trust, that you can talk to about certain things. And it is really cool to see that the people I have made connections with over the last couple years and mostly the last couple months, really become deep friendships and It makes me so grateful for everything I have I've always kept my circle Pretty small. My best friend lives across the country at this point, and I have a few other friends, but for the most part, I have never been a part of a big friend group and. It is really cool this season because the church I go to, there's a lot of girls around my age that we have a lot of common, a lot of girls around my age and we have a lot in common, and it's been really cool to see the people that I've gravitated towards and just watching those friendships grow. I am just so grateful for everything and I. Just, it makes me emotional really to think about the ways that God has transformed my life and to think about the ways that I'm growing into the seasons that I'm going to go through the next stages of life, and just knowing that It's all going to be so worth it, but to not rush into those moments and to be patient to enjoy where I'm at right now, and just stay positive and reflect through it all. Isn't it crazy how the things we did as kids are the things that our adult selves like to do? I've recently gotten into crafting and it is so fun. It's crazy to think about how many hours I spent as a child making scrapbooks or coloring, painting anything and everything that had to do with crafting I was doing. And for a long time I wouldn't do anything like this because I felt like I was wasting my time or I could be doing something more productive. But over the last few months I have tried to slow down and implement this type of rest or any kind of peaceful activity and doing these things, slowing down, being patient with the process of creating something. It has been so much fun and I'm finding it to be Something I really look forward to doing throughout the week. Another thing that I've been doing that used to be fun as a kid that I am loving right now is I started this adult tumbling class. I've only went once. Hopefully they have class tomorrow. And it's not canceled because of the snow, but I already know that this is going to take a lot of patience because I'm a lot older than I was the last time I tumbled. And I wanna be careful and not hurt myself and break my wrist, but. It's really cool to see the things that I still can do. I was in shock by. The skills that were so wired into my brain. It was funny because I kept getting dizzy and lightheaded, but you know what? That's just the fun part of aging. But I'm excited for this new stage and to be patient with it, not to rush in trying to do all of these back flips and tricks but I am excited to see where this takes me. Here are some small habits that you can do to practice patience, leaving early. This is a goal of mine to not be late all of the time, so leaving early, it builds that buffer and time to avoid rushing. Whenever you're driving, maybe try to resist switching lanes. That's something else I've been trying to do you're going to get there in the same amount of time, staying in the lane that you're in. So just stay put, stay calm, don't rush. Just be patient. A habit that I want to get back into is putting my legs up the wall, so it does take time, but it's really good to help your body relax. Slow down for the night, and it's good if you're sick. If you have any swelling in your knees, your feet. Lower body pain of any kind, and I wanna pair it with reading because it's a habit I already have. So I think that would be a good one to combine together. And it's something you gotta be patient for. You can't go anywhere, you just have to lay there practice doing one thing at a time instead of multitasking. Focus on one thing like eating. Or watching a movie without scrolling, it trains you to be present and in the moment. It reduces the urge to rush through life and through different experiences. Taking time for deep breaths. So whenever you're in traffic or in a line waiting at the store, try taking some deep breaths and observing what's going on around you without. Rushing to pull out your phone, turn waiting into a mini meditation to reframe it as peaceful and time to slow down, rather than it being frustrating, create delayed rewards in your routine. Like finishing your chores before treating yourself to a snack or your favorite show. Practicing in small ways can help with bigger goals, strengthening your patients and creating that muscle to get stronger without being overwhelmed. You can implement slower movement like yoga or different exercises that aren't as high intensity and can bring peace and stillness into the body. Listen without interrupting and conversations, make it a point to fully hear someone before responding, even if you have this perfect response to say, be patient and wait for that person to finish their thought before adding your input. I thought this idea was cute, but. Getting a plant and watching it slowly grow, it reminds you that good things take time. And it's so cool to watch a plant grow throughout the years. I. Had this snake plant that my mom, unfortunately over watered, but I got this thing when it was so little and it grew so much over. I guess I had it two years, three years. But it's really cool to see those things and anytime it has a new sprout or something changes and looking how much bigger it's gotten, This week, I want you to choose one or two things that can help create more patience as we begin to close out this episode, I want to remind you that patience is a muscle. It builds through small, consistent choices. If you've made it to the end of this episode, I want to say thank you so much for listening. If you're listening on Spotify, I would love if you left me a comment of where you're listening from and what your step this week is to create more patience in your life. If you feel like this episode was helpful, please send this to a friend or a family member that you feel like could benefit from it as well. As always, thank you so much for being here. I have linked a Google form with a q and a, so if you have any questions, feel free to leave those there. Thank you for listening, and thank you for choosing to show up for yourself I hope you have a great start to your week. Bye.