When was the last time impatience made things happen any faster for you?

My favorite urban legend supposedly happened in a casino in the early nineties.

Friends, the sitcom that eventually become one of the most watched shows in television history, had wrapped on their pilot episode, which would air in less than a week.

The cast and crew were all celebrating the beginning of what they knew was going to be a network hit.

Now, according to a screenwriter friend of mine who works in the industry, one of the producers pulled aside the six unknown cast members that night. He handed all of the up and coming sitcom stars envelopes with five hundred dollars apiece. And he instructed them:

I want each of you to go downstairs into the casino tonight, sit down at any table you want, and play. Because after tomorrow, you’re never going to be able to do that again for the rest of your life.

Holy smokes, that story still gives me the chills. Talk about vision. The actors had no idea they would later be earning a million dollars an episode, making them the highest paid television stars of all time.

The lesson to take from that historic moment is, don’t try to move too quickly, because you’re only new once.

Besides, when was the last time impatience made things happen any faster for you? Yes, it’s normal to be scared that if you don’t ship this new project soon, someone is going to come along and steal the first mover advantage from right under your nose.

But remember, speed tends to be an advantage in the micro of the creative process, not the macro. When it comes to launching big things, the bigger your dream, the longer it takes to get there.

And that’s okay. Speed for the micro, patience for the macro.

Sometimes you’re the tortoise, and sometimes you’re the hare.

I remember the very early development phase of my software product. After a few months, I was getting super antsy. Time felt like it was moving in reverse. Part of me wondered if our project would ever ship.

Thankfully, my developer calmed me down. He put the whole process into perspective:

Scott, think about it this way. The fact that you don’t have any investors holding your feet to the fire, that you’re not pushing for an acquisition, that you’re not working so hard that you’re burning out, and that you’re not trying to raise millions of dollars, that’s a good thing. Let’s enjoy this moment while we can. Because once we go live, it’s never going to be like this again.

Said it before and I’ll say it again, don’t try to move too quickly, because you’re only new once.

What does your dream imply you must be patient about?