There are some people whose thoughts seem to operate at a million miles per hour, their intuitive sense is crystal clear, and they easily make connections.
They listen to something one time and understand it.
They get an idea and immediately convert it into a business.
They come into a field and in just a matter of weeks, they have already gone beyond the intermediate stage.
I get the point so fast, I am working so hard… Then, why is it that life is not reacting in the same way?
That is actually the point where the Impatient Genius Syndrome is started.
The genius label is not far fetched, there is indeed an above-average level of perception, intelligence, and intuition.
However, that brain has difficulties in acknowledging this thing called time.
“I Did It, It’s Done. Then Why is There Still Nothing?”
An impatient genius typically can narrate the same kind of story:
* They start a new thing and learn very quickly.
* In a very short period of time, they go beyond average.
* Those who are around them often say: Wow, you learnt that so fast.
* But internally, they are thinking:
Sure, I got it quickly. But how come my life hasn’t changed yet? Why could it be that big doors haven’t been opened?
They enroll in a course and in three months, they take in a decade of knowledge.
They enter a field and become more adept than most people at a faster rate.
They launch a new idea and for days and weeks, they commit themselves to it.
When the big stage they were anticipating doesn’t arrive, their inner voice takes over:
*Maybe I am not good enough after all.
*Maybe nobody sees me.
*Maybe none of this is real.
The thing is, they are not doing something wrong, the problem lies with their perception of time.
Psychological Background: Reward Loops, the Patience Muscle, and the Fear of Silence
Psychologically, the Impatient Genius Syndrome can be classified under several categories:
1. A Mind Addicted to Fast Rewards
Typically intelligent people with the ability to grasp things quickly go through the following cycle repeatedly:
* One personal action = quick praise is received.
* A problem is solved = Immediately Well done is heard.
* A new venture is initiated = Within a short span, Wow, I’m really impressed is quickly received.
The brain becomes habitual of this cycle:
Effort = Instant Response.
After a few days, they decide to take responsibility for something bigger and more complex:
Relationships, career, long-term projects, inner transformation…
However, the response doesn’t come at the speed they had anticipated.
The nervous system interprets this lack of response as some sort of threat:
I’m trying and there’s no feedback. I must be on the wrong path.
Most of the time, it’s not wrong at all.
That is just the way big things work, they respond with a delay.
2. Strong Intelligence Muscles, Weak Patience Muscle
Extremely developed are some of the muscles:
*Analysis muscle,
*Problem solving muscle,
*Production/creation muscle…
Yet the patience muscle has not been trained sufficiently.
Since in most areas of their lives, they have not been forced to wait;
their mind has been able to solve most problems by using their intelligence.
Intelligence can only go so far towards creating shortcuts.
However, there are some ways which do not have shortcuts.
The ground does not grow faster just because you have understood the process swiftly.
The muscle does not get stronger faster just because you want it greatly.
The healing does not go faster just because you are in a hurry.
3. Struggling With Silence
For an impatient genius, the most difficult place is the void.
* An action was performed,
* It was put out there,
* And for a while, there is no feedback.
Such silence quickly turns to disaster scenarios in the mind:
No one notices.
No one cares.
I suppose it is utterly meaningless.
However, most of the time it is simply: The usual delay of life.
People being busy, bad timing, and unseen impact…
Yet, to the impatient genius mind, silence sounds like rejection.
Philosophical Dimension: The Conflict of the Ego With Time
On a philosophical note, the Impatient Genius Syndrome can be seen as a struggle of the ego against time.
The ego, that voice inside you, quite inconspicuously suggests:
Seeing and understanding it so clearly and rapidly, life should be just as quick to see me.
Simply put, the brain remarks:
I got up early. Then the world should see me early, too.
Philosophy still holds its ground and says:
Even though you have woken up early it doesn’t mean that everything will follow your rhythm.
The earth grows at its own speed.
The seasons are turning at their own pace.
Transformations even in a person’s inner world are following their own time.
An impatient genius’s error is this:
If I don’t see the results immediately, then there won’t be any at all.
This is the very classic all-or-nothing mentality.
However, real life is surrounded by middle tones:
* There are things that bear fruits only late.
* There are effects that go on even when you don’t see them.
* There are transformations that accumulate inside long before they become visible outside.
Philosophy throws this line at him/her like a chilly splash of water:
Not everything that is valuable has to be visible immediately.
Small Examples From Daily Life
The Impatient Genius Syndrome is not only visible in large projects, but the daily life examples are plenty as well:
*They enlist at a fitness center, go regularly for two weeks, look at themselves in the mirror and say:
Why hasn’t my body transformed yet?
* They embark on learning a new language, and only after a few months they say: Why am I still not fluent? Surely, I am not talented.
* They enhance themselves through relationships, by reading, reflecting, and trying to grow, then during a quarrel, they repeat the old pattern, and say:
See? I am the same, I haven’t made any progress.
Truth to tell, there is progress.
However, since the mind always demands that the external world be as quick as the inner one, the outer world is always perceived as being slow.
What Could This Impatient Genius Possibly Do?
There is no magical solution.
Still, mentally changing a few things can help you live with this syndrome:
1. Considering What Rhythm Do I Want? Instead of When Will I Finally Lose It?
The query may become:
What is a pace that I can keep for a long time?
How do I take care of my days, my weeks, my years?
When you do not set the goal of having a big outburst but rather of having a continuous rhythm, the mental work lightens.
2. Conceiving Silence Not as Rejection, But as a Place Where You Await
The fact that no one replies to you does not mean that you are throwing your pearls before swine.
Sometimes life makes us wait.
And what happens there is this:
* People understand you without telling you.
* Someone is influenced by you but you are not informed.
* People mention you in places where you’re not.
Silence isn’t always being ignored, sometimes it’s just recognition coming later.
3. Altering The Inner Speech
Instead of Nothing is going on, using:
Maybe things are going on that I just don’t see yet.
Changing I’m not advancing at all to:
Am I being fair when I compare my past and my current self?
These minor changes of sentences convey a completely different message to your nervous system:
There is no threat. What there is, is a process that is not quite clear yet.
Don’t let your brilliant side be overshadowed by your impatient side.
The Impatient Genius Syndrome is not about the fact that your fast, deep, quick learning side is somehow wrong.
It is about that side expecting an instant reward every time it is revealed.
Your intelligence, your intuition, and your depth are very valuable.
However, they are not the ones who rule over time.
Life has its own rhythm.
Your body, your work, your relationships, your personal development, your fame…
Each and every one of them has a timeline that goes on whether you are impatient or not.
Perhaps real maturity sounds like this:
I can understand quickly, but I do not have to see the results quickly.
Try viewing your impatient genius with this more serene sentence.
Perhaps it will be the first time that it will say:
“Alright. Let’s slow down a bit.”