As I move through my artistic, business, and general journey of life, the more I realize how much time things take, and how many actions must accumulate to reach a level of personal success. In order to be successful, you must actually take the time to live and learn about yourself. To develop your content pillars or the value you can provide, you have to know yourself and what you’re interested in. You have to grow. There has to be a lot of learning about what you really care about, and how you will convey that to your friends, followers, and clients.
When you look at successful artists, you are seeing them as they are now, rather than the 13 years of continual effort and lessons learned that they’ve put in. Success really is like an iceberg. You only see what is above the water, rather than the huge mass underneath. That mass is made up of late nights, long weekends, planning, goal setting, action, pivoting, experimenting, learning, coaching, mentoring, etc. All of that takes time. For example, Mozart did not start composing what are considered his masterpieces until after he had been working as a composer/musician for ten years. All of his previous work was the necessary foundation his success needed to be built upon. That ten years of working and learning, led to his greatness. Yet all we hear about are his masterworks.
Success develops over time. A lot of time.
I’ve been listening to the Be a Marketer podcast from Constant Contact, where they interview successful business owners on their journeys and successes, and so much of their success is built on making mistakes, learning from them, and trying something else. They have had the time to experiment with what works, and to change direction when it didn’t.
Ultimately, success is based on living, learning, and taking action. On repeat. All of which takes time. Greatness cannot be achieved in a rush, no matter how popular media and the desire for instant gratification has led us to believe otherwise. So, take your time. For yourself and for your goals. You’ll get there!