Waiting is not doing nothing if you’re doing it on purpose.

There’s a story behind that.

This is your daily message from Chad number 1219 to upgrade your mental game today by telling yourself a better story, because the most important story you hear is the story you tell yourself. And this message is dedicated to Karin Abarbanel.

Here’s the upgrade:

You may think waiting is weakness, but upgraded thinking knows patience is power.

Here’s the story:

In the summer of 1812, Napoleon marched into Russia with nearly half a million men. He wanted one thing: a big, decisive battle. That’s how he won. Find the enemy, crush the enemy, dictate the terms. The Russians saw him coming. Months before the invasion, an officer named Piotr Chuikevich wrote the plan down in a memo. Fight a war exactly contrary to what the enemy wants. Don’t give him his battle. Trade space for time.

The man who had to hold to that plan was Mikhail Kutuzov. He was in his late sixties, heavy, and half-blind from an old head wound. The court and the public wanted Moscow defended. So he gave them one fight, at Borodino. It was one of the bloodiest days in history, and it settled nothing. Then he did what nobody could stand. He retreated and gave up Moscow.

Napoleon rode into the ancient capital and waited for the Tsar to surrender. He sent envoys asking for terms. The Tsar refused to negotiate while French troops remained on Russian soil. The city burned. Supplies ran short. Five weeks went by. And Kutuzov waited too. Napoleon was waiting for something. Kutuzov was waiting on purpose.

In October, Napoleon finally retreated. Kutuzov didn’t sit still. He followed. He harassed the retreat mile after mile, kept up the pressure with rearguard actions, raids, and battles, never letting the French regroup. The Grande Armée came apart under hunger, cold, disease, and relentless Russian pressure.

Napoleon had written the warning himself. Retreats, he said, cost more than the bloodiest battles. In a battle, the enemy loses about as much as you do. In a retreat, you lose and he does not. He knew it. He walked into it anyway, because he couldn’t stand to wait.

The better story to tell yourself is, “I’m not stuck. I’m waiting on purpose.” Patience isn’t doing nothing. Patience is refusing to play the other person’s game. It’s going slow now so you can move fast later. The plan was the easy part. The hard part for Kutuzov was holding to it while everyone called him a coward. His patience paid off and saved the country.

Maybe you’re waiting right now. On a job. An answer. A child to come around. You’ve done the work and nothing has moved. You haven’t lost. Hold the plan. Be patient. Patience is power.

Tell me a story of patience that paid off to fromchadsmith@gmail.com. Send someone a text and ask them, “What are you waiting on right now?” You can get a free copy of my book, The Most Powerful Story in the World, by going to fromchad.gumroad.com. The transcript of this message and hundreds of others are always available at http://www.fromchad.com.