How to Become An “Overnight Success”
“Advice is an autobiography and NOTHING else” — James Altucher
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People hate advice given by someone who isn’t living what they tell other people.
It’s easy enough to write a book or a blog post that regurgitates ideas, anecdotes, and stories.
It’s both more difficult and beneficial to talk about your struggles in a way that intersects with the lives of other people. So let me do just that by telling you my story.
I’m still a “work in progress,” even though I’ve accomplished many things I’m proud of like writing multiple books, finding a career and business I love, speaking in front of 1,000+ people, building a platform with fans who like my work, and quitting my job to work for myself.
It’d be easy for me to gloss over the parts of my story that don’t fit the narrative of the guru who found overnight success with his “three little tricks,” but that would do you no good.
Success isn’t about tips, tricks, and short term strategies. It’s about boring yet effective concepts like hard work, patience, and iteration.
You know this already, but sometimes it takes someone peeling back the curtain and showing you what that process actually looks like. When it comes to my story, this process starts about four years ago.
My “Origin Story”
I’ve told the “story of my success” many times. Here are the cliff notes. I
was broke, depressed, and working a dead-end job. I found a new job as a video-store manager, and this new responsibility inspired me to become a better leader. I read a ton, watched videos, and tried to implement these strategies in my work and life.
Shortly after that, a buddy of mine asked me to write for his website. I started there and never stopped. I’ve been writing almost every day for the past five years since that moment. In the process, I had to learn many skills, try and fail, and hit real lows before I reached any sort of high point.
The story itself isn’t as important as the mindset I had to adopt while my career grew and the strategies I put in place to keep going when things got tough also grew.
