Success in Sweatpants

Long conversation with a new business acquaintance today, and person who has what I find the awe-inspiring ability to see the kind of offer-to-customer connections that comes up with really innovative business opportunities. I’ve always envied those with the talent for seeing and acting on the opportunities that no one else sees in a business setting.

I voiced my admiration for his insights, and his response was interesting.

“Oh, this didn’t happen overnight. I started out in a completely different place, did a lot of work and a lot of learning, and moved over time through several different steps.”

Well, okay. I still say huzzah for his insight. But this brings up a good point. We hear this point made from time to time, but I’m not sure how many of us really get it:

There is no such thing as overnight success.

Author, musician, entrepreneur … dig into the history of any of the big names and you will find stories that span years and, in many cases, multiple failures before hitting the mark.

There are two takeaways for me here:

• It is unrealistic to expect big successes to happen quickly.
• Big successes are preceded by a lot of focused work, learning, and acting.

This should not be discouraging. Just the opposite, in fact. When we understand how things work, we can stay on course easier and make better decisions. Which, in fact, could shorten our time to success!