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If you want to be an overnight success, you need to be an everyday hustler.
“If they can all get results that fast — what the heck is MY problem?”
“Jeez, I’m such a loser. Look at how much they accomplished in such a short time — and they’re half my age!”
“I might as well give up, because, at this pace, I’m never gonna get there…”
Be honest now.
Have YOU ever had these thoughts when you’ve heard about someone else’s fast success?
Unless you’re Buddha, Jesus, or some other enlightened soul, the answer is likely yes.
Because it seems like everywhere you turn there’s a small army of people who’ve snagged a fast pass to fame and fortune.
Understandably, it can leave the rest of us feeling like failures. You can’t help but wonder, “How do I become successful overnight?”
Until you really stop to investigate the truth about overnight success.
3 Truths About “Overnight Success”
Can a new business really go from meh to marvelous as quickly as some overnight success stories would have you believe?
I’ve seen a lot of those instant-fame stories, and — like a lot of people — I’m skeptical. We live in a completely overhyped culture where people want everything to be fast and easy. Easy steps to a better body, solid relationships, more money…
Stories of fast growth in business can seem motivating at first. They make it look easy, so you’re willing to take the leap. But aiming for instant gratification will set you up for failure.
When you don’t find success as quickly or easily as promised, you’re left wondering what on smurf you did wrong. What’s their secret?
The real secret is there’s no secret to speed up your road to success.
In this MarieTV, you’ll learn the inconvenient truth of those overnight success stories we can’t get enough of. Keep reading after the video for three real truths about fast business success — and three “zero to hero” stories that prove this myth is too good to be true.
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Drink my real coffee. It's as warm as a baby's diaper. Hey, it's Marie Forleo and you are watching MarieTV, the place to be to create a business and life you love. And this is Q&A Tuesday. Yes, it is. Today's question comes from Leslie and she writes, "Hi Marie, I'm so relieved that you shared with us that your journey to success has not been an overnight sensation. Here's my question. When you see a story from someone saying they've completely transformed their business and are making a six figure income in only a few short months, is this the modern version of a snake oil salesman or can a new business really have this fast of an upturn? I'm curious to know if there's a specific tipping point that can take a business from meh to yay." Leslie, this is an awesome question. I've seen a lot of those instant success stories and I can completely understand your skepticism.
We live in a completely over-hyped culture where people want a better body, better relationship, more money in three easy steps and they want it yesterday. Want the truth? Most people have completely lost touch with what it really takes to be successful. If you want to be wealthy, influential, and world-class in your field, strap yourself in and get ready to work harder and longer than you've ever worked before. Being successful is not easy and it does not happen fast. You have to earn it. And here's the thing, most of what it takes to get successful is painstaking, it's tedious and the day-to-day is boring. But no one ever tells you that. So let's get to it. Three real truths about overnight success. Truth number one, overnight success is the extremely rare exception, not the rule. So yes, while it is possible for someone to achieve fast results and there are legit people that do it, for the vast majority of us, lasting success takes a lot of time and a lot of hard work.
You got to remember it's a marathon, not a sprint. And especially in the beginning, there's no accolades, no fanfare, hardly any money, not a lot of recognition often for years. Take a look at actor Jeremy Renner, who I happen to love. He seemingly came out of nowhere because he's all over the place right now. But if you do a little bit of research, you'll see that many have called him an overnight success 20 years in the making. So yes, sometimes there are breakthrough moments that propel someone into the public eye, but those usually come after years of laying a foundation. And you got to remember this, even if you have a breakthrough moment or some kind of highlight, oftentimes you have to work even harder to keep it all going. Truth number two, you're likely not getting the whole story. Whenever you see a little blurb on a website or even an article in a magazine about someone's rise to fast success, you got to understand that you're probably not hearing the whole story.
Sometimes that's by design, either the person or the media wants to position a story in a certain way. And other times, it's just because they don't have enough space to tell the whole story. Let's take your example of hearing about someone who went from zero to six figures very fast. What you may not know is that she had a lot of experience in her field prior to starting her business, like 10,000 hours worth of experience, and maybe she already came with a killer network under her belt. Or maybe she's a really seasoned marketer and she decided to pivot into this new business. What you may not be hearing about is all the hard knocks she went through or all the killer habits she developed before this new venture. No matter what the reason you've got to remember, whether it's short little blurbs or media pieces, chances are you're not hearing the whole story.
Truth number three, explosive growth can be a recipe for disaster. You got to be careful what you wish for here because if you're not prepared, overnight success can take your company down fast. Think about it. An enormous influx of customers can blow up your website, it can totally stress out your team, and it can turn into a customer service nightmare. You can actually destroy your brand if you're not prepared for overnight success. That kind of fast massive growth requires a strong team, a really solid foundation, and an ability to scale. And those things take time and experience to develop. When it comes to overnight success, here's the bottom line, and yes, it's a Tweetable.
If you want to be an overnight success, you need to be an everyday hustler. Slow and steady wins the race. The only true path to success is making the right choices daily again and again and again and again. That was my 80 year queue, Leslie. Hope it helps. Now I would love to hear from you. What's your experience with overnight success? Have you been one or do you know anyone who is? Tell me your story. As always, the best discussions happen after the episode over at marieforleo.com, so go there and leave a comment now.
Did you like this video? If so, subscribe and share it with your friends. And if you want even more great resources to create a business in life that you love, plus some personal insights from me that I only talk about in email, get your buns over to marieforleo.com and sign up for email updates. Stay on your game and keep going for your dreams because the world needs that special gift that only you have. Thank you so much for watching and I'll catch you next time on MarieTV. [Singing 00:05:27]. Hi Marie. I'm so relieved that... Oh, hair in my mouth. My overnight success [inaudible 00:05:35]. Hey. You done, Eric?
The truth? Most people have completely lost touch with what it takes to be successful.
Want to be wealthy, influential, and world-class in your field? Strap in to work harder and longer than you’ve ever worked before.
Being successful isn’t easy, and it does NOT happen fast. You have to earn it, and most of the day-to-day work it takes to become successful is painstaking, tedious, and BORING.
No one likes to tell you that part of their story.
So, what about those rocketship success stories we’ve all seen? Those business owners and celebrities no one had heard of yesterday who are world famous today?
Here are three truths to burst the bubble on those B.S. success stories:
- Fast success is the exception, not the rule. Fast fortunes happen, but they’re extremely rare. Yeah, some people legitimately achieve lightning-speed results, but for most of us, lasting success takes a long time and a lot of hard work. Achieving your goals is a marathon, not a sprint. You’ll likely put in years of work and get no accolades, never be recognized, and earn little (if any) money, before achieving any kind of fame or fortune.
- You’re likely not getting the whole story. When you hear a story of someone’s fast rise to success, understand that you’re probably not getting all the details. We’ve all heard those stories of entrepreneurs who went from $0 in revenue to six-figure launches in a few months. What we don’t usually hear about is the 10,000 hours (or more) they put into mastering their craft, becoming an expert in their field, and building a network before launching a product or starting a business.
- Explosive growth can be a recipe for disaster. Be careful what you wish for. If you’re not prepared, an enormous influx of customers could crash your website, overwhelm your team, and turn into a customer service nightmare. It could destroy your brand before you’ve had a chance to prove yourself. Sustaining fast growth requires you to take the time to build a solid foundation and develop the business savvy to navigate it.
“Zero to Hero” Stories That Prove Overnight Success Is Myth
Not convinced? I get it. A story of instant rewards is way more exciting than one about hard work and perseverance in the face of obscurity.
But if you want to be successful, perseverance is the name of the game. Let’s pull back the curtain on a few “overnight success” stories to see what it really took to hit it big.
Stephenie Meyer, Author of Twilight
The legend around the powerhouse Twilight franchise is that the story came to author Stephenie Meyer in a dream. She woke up, started writing, and poof! International fame.
But we all know that, no matter how big your dreams, they don’t generate best-selling novels while you sleep. That takes butt-in-seat kinda work.
Stephenie Meyer took the inspiration from her dream and ran with it. She spent three months writing the novel, researching the traditions she included in the story, and joining a writers’ group for support. She submitted the manuscript to 15 literary agents, got no response from five, and was rejected by nine before landing her agent and eventually a publishing deal.
Stephenie grew her fanbase from scratch by showing up for bimonthly book signings and events near her home in Arizona.
And, while it’s true that Twilight was the first novel she’d written, Stephenie had earned a BA in English Literature a few years before on a National Merit Scholarship — so she knew her stuff, and she knew how to work her butt off.
Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, Founders of Instagram
A $1 billion acquisition by Facebook after two years in business is a big effin’ deal in Silicon Valley. But Instagram didn’t appear overnight in some guy’s garage.
Instagram’s founders, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, were both Stanford grads and had been part of the university’s Mayfield Fellows program, which teaches students how to run tech startups and places them in established companies and high-powered startups.
Kevin had worked on Gmail at Google, and he built his check-in app called Burbn on the weekends. He connected with Mike, who was an early user of the app, according to a story of Instagram’s founding by Inc.
The only problem? Foursquare was steep competition for a check-in app, so the two took a different route and pared Burbn down to just photo-sharing — and renamed it Instagram.
Mia & Jason Bauer, Founders of Crumbs Bake Shop
Remember the cupcake craze of the early 2000s?
That kind of trend means booming business for companies that get in early — but fast growth is risky if you’re not built to withstand copycat competition and changing consumer tastes.
In 2003, husband and wife team Jason and Mia Bauer opened Crumbs Bake Shop, a small mom-and-pop bakery in Manhattan that grew beyond any small business owner’s wildest dreams. By 2011, Crumb Bake Shop had become a publicly-traded company and the largest cupcake chain in the U.S. with 79 locations in nine states.
In 2014, cupcake demand was on the decline, and the company started having serious financial problems because of the costs of operating so many physical stores. By 2016, it had closed all its locations.
You Have to Work Hard for “Overnight Success”
If you want to be an overnight success, you need to be an everyday hustler.
You’ll have to overcome challenges, stay creative, keep innovating, believe in yourself, work your nose off, and keep at it even when it’s not easy. Especially when it’s not easy. Which will be most of the time.
Stories of speedy success can make you feel defeated, but don’t let them get you down. Remember: They’re rarer than they seem, you probably don’t know the whole story, and fast growth isn’t the best path for every business.
Don’t worry about those other businesses. Just keep doing what you do well, and let your business stand out in its own time.
Now, let’s turn this insight into action.
Grab a notebook, and spend 5 to 10 minutes writing your answers to these questions:
Do you personally know anyone who truly had a meteoric rise to success? What was their real, behind-the-curtain experience? What lessons can you take away from witnessing it?
Success in real life takes hard work, perseverance, and, often, a little luck.
Slow and steady wins the race.
Your true path to success is making the right choices daily — again and again and again.
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