Don’t believe the hype. There is no such thing as overnight success. Success, however you define it, takes a level of effort and dedication that simply cannot happen overnight.
But if you can’t achieve success overnight, then why do we always hear stories about someone or something being an overnight success?
The answer is two-fold.
First, people confuse early success with overnight success.
Second, people only see the results, not the hard work that went into achieving the results.
Here’s an example.
You’lloften hear people say that Amazon was an immediate success. Nothing could be further from the truth. Amazon was an early success, no doubt, but it did not happen overnight. In 1994 Bezos started Amazon in his garage. It wasn’t until 1997 that Amazon was able to gain any real traction and go public. But even then, the company (and the Internet as a whole) was still in its infancy. It took Bezos many more years to build Amazon into the giant you know and love today.
When you break it down, success is really just a journey made up of small victories that build upon each other.
In other words, you can’t look at success in a vacuum. You need to step back, take a look at the big picture, and see how each victory builds momentum for the next.
One of the biggest problems I see with people who are not successful is that they focus all their attention on the end result, while failing to appreciate the day-to-day grind that’s going on behind the scenes.
For example, people have said, “Oh, it’s so easy for JD, he makes bank as a lawyer blah blah blah.” But they don’t see the years of struggle it took to get to this point. Nor could they appreciate it. And that’s why they’re not successful.
So, just how long does it take to become successful?
The answer is simple: it takes as long as it takes.
Whether that means 5 weeks, 5 months, or 5 years. You get out what you put in. There are no shortcuts.
To sum up, success doesn’t happen overnight. In fact, it may take years for you to achieve your own success. And that’s fine. Because it will make your ultimate success taste that much sweeter.
All the best,
JD
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