Staying Patient

First and foremost, creating a level in Geometry Dash is not something that can be done quickly or easily. There are a lot of elements to consider, such as the layout of the level, the placement of obstacles and collectibles, and the timing of jumps and movements. All of these factors need to be carefully considered and tested before the level is ready to be shared with others.

Even studying the GD editor and its mods will take time and practice to navigate around. Rushing through the process or cutting corners can result in a level that is frustrating or unenjoyable to play.

While there are exceptions as shown in Build Jams and mini creator contests, there's a mostly high positive correlation between a level's quality and the time taken to complete. This is why it's recommended to not focus too much on quality when making a Build Jam level as within 3 days, your only aim is to complete the level.

Secondly, you need to be patient with yourself if you want to build well. You probably know how it feels to try making a level, only to give up because what you're making is far worse than what you imagined. You can’t rush yourself to make a perfect level, and as such you need to have patience with yourself.

Take JonathanGD for example; he’s well known for levels like Future Funk. He spends hours, days, and even months in total to make his levels. Jonathan took 13 months and 143 streams to build and verify the project that we all know as “Dark Odyssey”. Jonathan almost never rushes himself, because he knows that it is difficult to make quality levels at a fast pace. All you need to do is trust the process, and do some work each day. Eventually, if you look back at everything you have done, you will see major progress in your skills at whatever you are trying to get better at, whether it be decoration, or gameplay.

Finally, patience is crucial to deal with setbacks and obstacles. Creating a level in Geometry Dash is not always smooth sailing. There may be times when you hit roadblocks or encounter difficult problems. In these situations, it's important to stay calm and patient, and to keep working at the problem until you find a solution. This could mean experimenting with different elements, seeking advice from others, or simply taking a break and coming back to the problem with fresh eyes.

Like any other guide that deals with psychology and mentality, it's easier said than done. In fact, when weighing the long term consequences with the short term rewards, it has become more difficult to stay patient nowadays, where anything you want is at the click of your fingertips. This creates a false expectation where quicker results mean better results. Fortunately, it also means that those who practice patience will thrive well in this world.

There are multiple ways to stay patient and calm. Some ways are a little more time-consuming than others, but their end result can make your view on your creations even better than they were before. A couple of these include: 

Visualizing your level. This would help you to not rush into the creating process before you have a clear vision for how you're going to execute your level. You could then write down the ideas you have on paper as you would have more details to write down.

Being open to making adjustments. This is a process that must go on as you create, with the goal being to trust the process and to not give up on your levels, just because they don’t instantly look good.

Taking deep breaths. When something frustrating happens, this can also help you stay patient. Try thinking of ways to change what you did just then, and what you could do differently to make that thing work as intended.

Take a break and focus on smaller projects. When working on large scale projects such as an XXL level and you don't like how it looks or isn't turning out how you imagined it, take a break and work on a smaller scale project or maybe a few collabs that require a similar style but are a bit outside of your comfort zone. This will help you to learn new tricks and concepts when decorating, so when you go back to working on your big project, you will have gained a bit of experience and will know how to improve your large project even further.

Find time to be still and reflect. Give yourself 10-15 minutes and let your mind wander. No GD editor, no phone, no TV, no distractions. Let yourself be alone with your thoughts. You can even do this when you walk in the morning. Taking a little nap, or full on sleeping overnight, could help reduce stress, and allow for more patience.

While patience is a virtue, there may be times when being too patient will waste your time. 

For example, let's say that you are hosting a collab with 7 creators. As mentioned in the Communication Guide, you've laid out your vision document and set up the necessary channels to reach out to those creators with ease, precision, and timeliness. However, 2 of these creators rarely talked. Even though you've reached out to them to build their parts since Day 1, they have no progress to show for.

What would you do? Do you:

• Keep waiting in the name of patience?

• Set your boundaries and schedule deadlines?

• Immediately fire them and seek a new replacement?

There's no clear-cut answer to this question as different situations and context encourage one answer over another. Also, depending on your leadership style, you will comfortably lean on one over another.