Success doesn’t happen in a bubble. What I mean is success is the result of something. When people look at success what they say is the final project not the work that went into that final project. Look at most “overnight” success stories. These are usually people who have been busting their ass for years who finally got some traction, there is no such thing as an overnight success. Success is a process not an event. Meaning success is the result of hard work and persistence more than anything. This applies to blogging as well as anything else in life.
For example in my blog yourself rich series I talked about getting to post number one thousand and how that represents such a great milestone for so many blogs. By the time a blog reaches post number one thousand they have shown that they are in it for the long haul. They aren’t here to make a quick buck (not that it would work anyways) but to stick to their message and deliver value. Time and patience is why most bloggers and businesses fail. Because people think success strikes like a lightning bolt when success is more like building a building brick by brick.
We remember the greats whether they were writers, generals, businessmen, or anything else. Greatness is held with respect or at least it is in healthy societies. However most people see the highlight fight or the best seller book. They don’t see the day in and day out work. They don’t see the “boring” work and it is the boring work that makes all the difference. The hitting the bag when your sleepy, the sitting down tired after work to crank out another post, the forcing yourself to read to expand your mind, the daily grind stuff that makes the difference.
Do The Boring Things Over And Over To Get Success
You don’t want to live a boring life however you must do boring things to succeed. While marketers hawking their products will tell you about their shortcuts (for five low payments of 19.99) or tell you to go their seminar to have instant riches (of course only if you join their exclusive coaching program) and so on and so forth the fact of the matter remains is that success comes from doing the boring (but needed) things over and over again. That’s right in a way success comes from being boring.
The daily grind is what is going to separate you from the pack. That’s right not flashy advertising or well written copy though those factors are important but in the work day by day. It’s not sexy by any means but the truth is the road to success isn’t sexy. Marketers will tell you it is to get your money but the truth is it isn’t, which is why so few will truly reach the end of the road. Because they get bored and move on.
There will be times when you will think “Why am I doing this?”, when your traffic drops from one month to the next, when you feel like your simply sending words into empty space. That’s fine and that’s normal. As long as you keep on keeping on you will be fine. Write one thousand words a day, either in book form or in blog post form. Post or publish them. And do that for the rest of your life and you are pretty much guaranteed to be successful as a writer on some level. There is no getting around doing the work, the boring work.
One Foot In Front Of The Other
What it comes down to is putting one foot in front of the other. Step by step making your way to your ultimate step. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step and ends with a million more. You get the idea. Success isn’t sexy, understand that. Success isn’t sexy. It’s doing the boring hard work day in and day out. There will be days when after grinding away you will feel like you haven’t made any progress. Keep at it. As long as you keep at it you will experience success. Keep chipping away at that mountain. Do the work and put the time in. Don’t give up. That is the way to get to where you want to go. It’s not glamorous, but it works.
You will get bored on your way to success. It isn’t a crazy fun filled adventure all the time. Many times it is drudgery. But it is pushing through this boredom that separates the successful from the unsuccessful. Thrill seekers and those who want instant gratification will never achieve it. Success belongs to those who take the slow and steady route. Imagine running one hundred miles. At times it would be boring, very boring. What you have to do to achieve your goal is simply keep your head down and keep putting one foot in front of the other. Focus on that and reaching the finish line will take care of itself. Never worry about what others think, say, or do. Stay focused on your purpose, your Northern star and never sway from it. Singleness of purpose can accomplish anything.
Put in the work every day. Hard work pays off, giving value pays off, do it once then repeat it one thousand times. And that’s just for starters. You have to push yourself farther than others are willing to do. This often involves more putting in the work then amping yourself up. Those who ride on motivation, emotions, and making a quick buck won’t make it, they won’t last. Those that are prepared to tear down the great wall with a chisel are the ones who are going to make it.
Summary
Hard work and giving value day in and day out will pave the way to success. Each post, each effort put in, is one more brick in the great building that will one day be complete. There are no shortcuts simply ways to maximize your work and even then if you aren’t prepared to go the distance they won’t matter. When it comes down to it dogged persistence and a belief in themselves and their ideas is what separates the winners from the losers. The successful from the unsuccessful.
Keep plugging away. You may not feel like you are making an impact or making progress but if you are putting in work towards your goal each and everyday than trust me you are. You just have to stick with it. You have to be prepared to keep soldiering on when everyone else has dropped out, when everyone else has gone on to the next shiny object that catches their eye. You’ll still be there and that is what will make you successful while others never get anywhere.
Dedication, hard work, persistence, the oldest stories will tell you the same thing. Yet people get distracted by slick marketing and people promising them the world. Whoever your hero is was at one point a nobody, every man must forge himself, his life, and his success. Moment by painful moment a man is forged. Your success is no different. You either persist until you make it or you fail. There is no third option, choose wisely.
If you have any questions you would like to see answered in a future post send them to me at charlessledge001 (at) gmail (dot) com. If you found value in this post then I would encourage you to share this site with someone who may need it as well as check out my books here. I appreciate it. You can follow me on Twitter here.
-Charles Sledge
