It’s possible that I can share an idea with billions of people in seconds. But how long does it take to hone a craft? To get really good at something? To build an audience of any size that’s interested in listening? That could take a lifetime.
It’s easy to be convinced that through our connectivity online, we’re able to shortcut our way to an audience. A subscriber a week feels painfully slow. Making one or two 32-page picture books a year seems as though it may not be worth all the effort. But these achievements are only slow because we imagine them to be fast. The headlines feed us stories of ‘overnight success’ only to later reveal that any overnight success is really 20 years in the making.
Progress is only possible with generous persistence. Drip-by-drip. One subscriber a week means 52 a year. And there’s likely a compounding effect where one subscriber who values what you do tells 5 others. Suddenly, one subscriber a year means 250 people a year. No fancy algorithms needed.
So chip away, drip-by-drip, and enjoy yourself. People will listen eventually, if what you’ve got to say is worth listening to. One day you might wake up to your own overnight success. And if you don’t? Well, at least you’ve enjoyed yourself anyway, and lost nothing.