Q&A: What do I consider the most powerful but overlooked quality in people?

Every month, I publish an answer to a reader’s question. Here’s a transcript of my answer to one of my favorite readers’ questions:

Hi Lisanne, my question is what do you consider the most overlooked yet powerful quality in people?

Probably patience. Progress takes time. Sometimes I catch myself with this feeling that this generation grows up believing things happen instantly. That success, probably due to the type of pictures we see on social media, happens overnight. We all see pretty things online and then we try to emulate that.

But leaving out the bumpy moments can make it look like as if those who own the pretty things had a smooth run. As far as I’m concerned, there is a whole process involved that goes in before becoming a writer, filmmaker, teacher, or scientist. You only become a writer by writing a lot. This means practice, hard work, and writing a lot of crap first before you get to the wonderful things. I think if we focus on the result and long for the pictures to get to show people, we forget about an important part of the story. It’s the journey that makes it exciting.

What do you consider the most underrated virtue in people? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

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