Overnight Success: The Long Road Nobody Sees

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. You know this already, but sometimes it takes someone/something to explain to you what that process actually looks like. When it comes to my story, this process started about 5 years ago.

The Beginner Phase

At the age of 20, I started working on freelance projects while I was still in college. Within a year, I worked on many projects to earn enough money that I can spend. Almost every other project was from someone I knew, from friends or family members, or through their references. Still, to this day, I remember the first time I took upon a client project. It was not a very big project. I downloaded a couple of different free vector graphics and combined those to make a decent logo. The client really liked the idea. I was paid a decent amount of money for that, and I was happy.

Shortly after that, while I was still in college, I got job placement in Ahmedabad's one of the good and reputed IT companies. It was kind of an internship. I worked there for only 1 month and 12 days, to be exact. I really didn't like the work environment, or I was not ready for the job. I felt like I'm not doing this 9 to 5 grind for the rest of my life. So after graduating, I continue to work on freelance projects and have earned a living as a full-time freelance designer.

I was lucky, in all sorts of ways. But here’s the thing about luck. It rarely tends to come unless you go out there and look for it. You need to do the work. And then put the work out there.

I'm a completely self-taught designer. I learned everything from the Internet, from YouTube videos, Blogs, Medium articles, and many more resources out there in the wild. You can read more about what I used to learn here.

I also placed bid on different freelance work platforms. I pitched to agencies I wanted to work for. I applied for the design contests when I was hopelessly under-qualified for them. I'm a socially introverted person, but I got involved in different social media platforms, asked some foolish questions, and then some slightly smarter ones. I learned as I went along, and found it's not that hard to become an expert in anything if you are really passionate about it and are willing to put in the hours.

My background had inoculated me from fairy tales, and I never thought the world owed me a living. Instead, I grabbed it - albeit in a timid, clumsy, and inept way.

The details of the beginner phase aren’t as important as the goal - traction. Even though you need a more advanced skill set as time goes on, the beginner phase is the most important because it’s where 99% of people fail.

This is why I never got why people focus so much on competition. In any field or life path, competition is irrelevant because the bulk of your competition is people who are going to quit soon.

I knew no one would hand it to me.

So it came as a surprise to me to realize how many creatives really did buy into this corporate bullshit; the idea of a decent, well-paid 9 to 5 job, with no stress.

Until last month, I was only working 3 hours a day for a product innovation company on a part-time basis. I used to come home at 1 pm in the afternoon and then just relax. I used to sleep a couple of hours and then start working on other freelance projects in the evening. My friends and family members used to tell me that my daily routine is perfect. Work only 3 hours and then just chill out. But they didn’t know that before earning this lifestyle, what I had faced, what I have experienced. I worked on weekends and holidays to make this happen. I also had to cancel plans with my friends just to finish some shitty client projects. Those things weren’t perfect, but in the end, they all paid off. They paid off in a big way. And most importantly: they took time.

I look back at my first logo design, the first UI design I created for an actual client. I find those designs awful, but they had one element that let me know I was on the right track. It made sense. My work wasn't polished, but at least I created something on my own.

I bet so many people are not happy because they aren't getting what they want in life; they expect it too quickly and want all their dreams to come true today. But they fail to comprehend what actually goes into achieving that. Most of the time, their goals are coming at the expense of Netflix or video games. Not money. Actual time.

Here's the truth about overnight success. Nothing happens overnight. It can happen, but so rarely it's not worth thinking about. As a designer, I've heard hundreds of overnight success stories over the years, especially in the software industry, when startups came into existence. But dig deeper, and you inevitably discover a far longer, messier story of struggle, practice, and persistence, of small victories followed by big setbacks. Or luck that came as a result of staying positive and putting good work out there, day after day.

I may not be a successful person from other's perspectives. Still, more myself, I'm very much successful in the business/work side of my life.

On to the Next One

About a year or so ago, I was earning very little money. Right now, I'm working part-time for two different companies. Making a decent amount of money that I can easily afford a good lifestyle. I use public transport for the commute, I generally eat very regular food, wears proper clothes and shoes.

But in the end, I earn enough that I can easily afford my day-to-day lifestyle. It's very decent yet enjoyable.

Based on my experience, here’s how you really find success:

• Do the good work.

• Put the work out there.

• Tell people about it.

• Learn whatever you can daily, then do what you can to improve.

• Keep a daily journal to write down your thoughts and experiences.

• Must use a to-do list to track your progress.

The formula is pretty simple. What’s hard is overcoming your doubts and fears, and other people’s indifference.

You should be trying for that moment for the rest of your life. It takes tons and tons of work. It takes some luck. It takes a lot of time. But it is a huge privilege to do what you love every day. The way you do that is becoming an "overnight success." Because all those people you call an overnight success? They have the same story as me. They worked. Maybe you didn't see it. But you're seeing it now.

You don't suck; you just haven't put in the time.