How to Become an Overnight Success…

“Patience is a conquering virtue”

Geoffrey Chaucer

Disclaimer: Before you start reading this blog lets get one thing very clear…there is no such thing a an overnight success…sorry to burst your bubble. If your still interested in becoming what other people see as an overnight success then read on 😉

We are currently living in a world of instant gratification. We can do absolutely everything at the click of a button now. We can order parcels and it turns up either the same day or the next day. We can order all our food choices via our phone and get almost anything delivered. Everything is getting faster and as a generation we are continuously wanting everything quicker and with more and more shortcuts! The issue with this is we fail to see that sometimes things do take time. We have all been victim to this to.

I have seen so many advertisements suggesting immediate success, ‘write your first novel in 30 days’ was one I recently saw on my social media channel. That is insanity. I am a published author, and my first book took me over a year! However, this is the type of thing we face on the daily and it is little wonder why we get sucked into this. Obtain the world with no effort…sign me up…I call Bulls^&t

Now, I am a massive advocate for speeding things up where we can, improving productivity and becoming more efficient. I mean after all; this is a core part of our solutions and our whole service for students. However, when it comes to achieving your goals, we must also learn to be patient. Think about your degree, this is the build-up of at least three years of hard work (sometimes more). It is the accumulation of hitting milestones over and over. Completing assignments, presentations, and eventually your dissertation thesis. Do not expect to see ‘achieve a degree in a month’ popping up on your social feeds…I certainly hope not anyway!

When we think about success…the word ‘overnight success’ is often thrown around. Whether it’s a singer, a sports person a public figure or even Karen from down the road who just “got lucky”. The ‘success iceberg’ is a great way of demonstrating this. People often only see people’s success when it comes to the forefront and is in full sight to everyone. However, all successful people have spent years building their craft and skills. They have often failed (a lot). They have sacrificed a lot (a lot, a lot). They have also learned to be patient (the key in all of this…patience). 

A book I regularly refer to is ‘the compound effect’ by Dan Hardy. In this he explains that success comes from hammering out consistent actions daily. It is not instant.  Gary Vee says those who succeed are those ‘who can hold their breath the longest’, meaning those who stick it out and keep grinding, picturing the long game. This is often something hard to realise…as we want things now and want to the path of least resistance to get them!

Perhaps you want that dream job when you leave university…but right now, rather than three years down the line (And we encourage you to dream big) however, in realty you need to keep applying the daily work to get there. It isn’t just going to get given to you on a plate. We have blogs discussing the importance of hard work and it’s because ‘nothing worth having comes easy’. All this continuous work accrues to bigger results if applied correctly.

Our planner and the student brand that you see today is the accumulation of daily work. If you consistently set your ‘focused few’ and you complete them daily this will add up to big results. If you consistently schedule your time and become more organised this will improve your performance. If you consistently review your overall performance weekly and make pointers for improvements, you will make progress. If you consistently carry out your #GrowthHacks, you will grow. The list could go on.

The Semester Student Planner is designed for one whole year, which means it is about applying these principles every single day for the year… and then beyond. It takes consistency and most of all…patience to achieve your goals. If you can make patience one of your foundational principals and strive to be a little bit better each day, you are certain to achieve incredible success on your academic journey.

On a final point, you have to make sure that you enjoy the process on the way. Enjoy the process of bettering yourself. Enjoy the pursuit of chasing your goals. Have a growth mindset and realise this is all part of becoming a better version of yourself. You will get there eventually if you apply all the right principles daily…you just have to learn to be patient and trust the journey!

I hope you enjoyed this student blog and if you have any questions, please reach out to us via our contact page.

Also don’t forget to share your journey with us so we can build a community of like-minded people.

#LetsGrowTogether 🎯