The overnight success myth has to stop
True progress comes from tiny actions taken repeatedly over an unhinged amount of time.
I never cover politics in my ‘stack but since 60% of my readers are from the US I feel compelled to say to my American friends that I can only imagine how you’re feeling after this election result. That the most powerful country in the world - one that’s home to so many wonderful, smart, entrepreneurial, hardworking, good, well-meaning humans - is regressing in so many areas (ie. women’s rights) is frankly terrifying. As an Aussie looking on from afar, I’m devastated and so sorry. I hope you’re doing ok.
I’ve been thinking about the ‘overnight success’ myth a lot recently, mainly because someone told me they thought I was one. It was an interesting comment, and while I get that to some people it might seem like I’ve burst onto the scene and quickly carved out a big ol’ portfolio-career-shaped space for myself, it was also a misguided one.
It would have been fab if I’d shot here overnight but sadly the real story is longer and far more boring. My entire portfolio career (and everything that has followed) can be traced back to one simple action I decided to take 673 days ago: to write for 30 minutes each day. I committed to this habit back in Jan 2023 because I was itching to find a new way to live and work, and was convinced that writing would take me there. I knew it would be a foundation to explore my strengths, connect to my values, sharpen my thinking, build products people care about, cultivate community, market myself and sell my skills.
Committing to a writing habit 673 days ago changed everything. Over time, I made connections and new friends, built my personal brand, gained clarity about WTF I was doing and became confident in my capability to be the CEO of my life. I experienced real momentum for the first time through the magic of compounding, and emboldened, I continued stacking habits on habits until my wheels were spinning so quickly that I was struggling to keep up.
What people don’t know and can’t see is that any small success I’ve had - whether it be in my portfolio career, business or writing - is not the result of a viral moment but of many teeny tiny actions consistently taken over an excruciatingly long period of time. For anyone, success (however you want to define it) is a lagging indicator of the effort that isn’t sexy enough to talk about. The daily habits. The weekly cycle. The monthly review.
I’m religious about tracking the boring stuff because a) I’m unhinged and b) I know that habits are the long, bumpy, gravelly road that will lead me to my dreams. I track daily actions like:
Posting on social: I post on most platforms most days with the exception of Twitter/X, which I have Elon Musk-flavoured beef with
Engaging with my wonderful community: I respond to all comments and all emails first thing every morning
Outreach: I reach out to at least one new person a day via LinkedIn or email - founders I find interesting, thought leaders whose content I vibe with, operators who are building great stuff
Inbox zero: I still aim for this across 3 email accounts each day (I’m unwell, I know)
Meditation and exercise: not all days but I try!
Fun: I track this because I so easily get lost in my work (because I love it) that I risk doing nothing else
I also track weekly, fortnightly and monthly tasks:
Weekly: Publishing my Substack, reviewing website stats (traffic, conversion etc.), mapping out social content, meal planning (which my boyfriend and I categorically suck at) and actively soliciting customer feedback to inform new or existing products and services
Fortnightly: I’ve designed a cash flow system that allows me to pay myself the same wage regardless of how much money I’ve brought in that month. Each fortnight, I do my pay run
Monthly: financial month-end which involves reporting on income, expenses, tax commitment and super contributions, and I also do a general review of my business and life
Here’s what I know:
If you want to build a good business, create good habits. If you want to move forward, ditch big and start small. Commit to one thing for 30 days. Write a post. Send an email. Have a conversation. Create a feedback form. Test a product idea. Then rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat until the engine cranks and your wheels start to move. Until the long, bumpy, gravelly road smoothes out beneath you. Until you reach your top speed.
A weekly habit I’ve recently introduced for the explicit purpose of helping me build products people want:
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My cofounders and I worked at building Refinery29 for a loooong time, logging slow but meaningful growth and mini milestones. We got major momentum after 8 years and at that time people were constantly saying "wow, you really popped off!" "you guys are an overnight success!" Overnight = 8 Years in my case. A good reminder as I build the next thing!
This is it! You only succeed overnight if there was already enough work done before, all those small steps. All the little and annoying home works. All the connections allowing you to go further.. and that never happens overnight 🙂