I saw this on Twitter last week and saved it for today’s Motivation Monday. It literally gave me goosebumps. For anyone who has ever tried, failed, overcome and tested their resilience to the nth degree, this one is for you. For anyone who is trying, failing, overcoming, and testing your resilience to the nth degree, this one is also for you.
It is an except from Jon Gordon‘s new book The Carpenter.
They think I became an overnight success. But I tell them, there is no such thing as an overnight success. The way to success is to work really hard for years. You show up every day. You do the work. You see yourself as an artist dedicated to your craft with a desire to get better every day. You put your heart and soul into your work as you strive for excellence. You desire to create perfection, knowing you’ll never truly achieve it but hoping to get close to it. You try new things. You fail. You improve. You grow. You face countless challenges and tons of rejection that make you doubt yourself and cause you to want to quit. But you don’t. You keep working hard, stay positive, and persevere through it all with resilience, determination, and a lot of hope and faith. Then you make it! Everyone wants to work with you and the world says ‘Where have you been?’ And you say ‘I’ve been here all along, and hopefully getting better day by day.’ To the world, you are an overnight success. To you, the journey continues. You’re a craftsman who wants to make your next work of art your best work no matter what you have accomplished in the past.”
The world says “Where have you been?” and you say, “I’ve been here all along.” The journey continues.
Godspeed on your journey, my friends.
Happy Motivation Monday.
xo,
This was right on time for me. Thank you Erica.
Those words are so true! I was just speaking about that on periscope to my live viewers yesterday. It takes years of hard work and dedication to become an “overnight success” thanks for this.
This is a truth that people often overlook. When I started Little Pim, I thought I was a failure when my company hadn’t gone super big after four years of selling our language teaching for kids products. I remember talking with my cousin, who had a reputation in our family for being an overnight success after selling his company for over $400 million. He told me it took him TEN YEARS to build his business. That was the part everyone always left out! This conversation helped inspire me to hunker down and keep forging ahead. And not be so hard on myself!