How long does it take to become an overnight success?
I have been thinking recently about what is success and how our notions of success are shaped by the media. We hear about the achievement of people and they become an “overnight” success but seldom do we hear about the years of practice to achieve this success. That is why, I was fascinated to see the Iceberg of Success at a recent school visit at Wimbledon High (picture above).
Success is like an iceberg - we see the tip of it; we see the achievement but we almost never hear about the tenacity, perseverance, patience, practice, failure and unwavering faith that it takes to become an overnight success. The list is not new to anyone who has worked hard to achieve their goals but for me perhaps patience stood out a bit like the odd-man-out. How is patience linked with the ambition and drive it takes to achieve audacious goals? I have had a hard time reconciling this. However, once I started thinking about what has happened when I did not have patience, I began to realise how patience not only helps but it actually makes us enjoy the journey. Impatience makes us frustrated and frustration makes us willing to give up. Impatience makes us angry at ourselves for not getting there faster, for not being good enough, etc. Impatience turns the healthy ambition into striving. Whereas every time we are patient with ourselves and appreciate that it takes time and effort to learn, to achieve our goals, first of all we feel better but also we have new energy to continue.
It is such a blessing to be taught at school about this. Hats off to the teachers at Wimbledon High for teaching their students on what it takes to succeed.