Hey team,

I never like to “sell” but at this time of year, I feel like I can provide a lot of value. Final call for a 1:1 consultation with me to perfect your 2024 strategy 📣 if you’re interested just reply to this email.

In this week’s newsletter, we’ll dissect what makes an overnight success. (Hint: a lot of hard work, many failures and a quest for mastery…)

💭 Thought of the week

In social, there’s always a debate about quantity vs. quality. To truly master a craft you need to put the reps in and then, as a result, this quantity leads to quality.

What I learned about Olivia Rodrigo blew my mind…

In 2021, Olivia Rodrigo’s debut single was an instant success.

“Drivers License” topped the US Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks straight.

I remember reading thousands of articles telling her incredible story of “overnight” success.

But Olivia disagreed:

“I don’t think my success by any means was overnight. I’ve been writing songs since I was 9 years old and working so hard for so long.”

People just see the success, but they don't see the hundreds and hundreds of songs she's probably written and scrapped.

I dug further, researching and exploring Olivia’s background to understand what creates a breakout star.

I found it:

“These days, I try to write one song every day. I just feel like myself when I’m writing.”

Olivia writes a song every day.

We then call her an overnight success.

What does this teach us about content creation?

We want our first LinkedIn post, YouTube video or newsletter to be our “Drivers License.”

We see the creators going viral and beat ourselves up when our results aren’t the same.

It’s a game of reps and a game of focusing on what we can control: the inputs.

To enjoy the serendipity of opportunities coming your way, you’ll need to show up again and again until your efforts compound.

When you reach that moment, suddenly everything makes sense.

To everyone else you’re an “overnight success” and the outsiders think you're lucky.

What they didn’t see are the countless day(s) of your life that you spent working towards a vision that only you could see.

So focus on the inputs, and the outputs will take care of themselves.

💡 A perspective to consider

Is your content working? Like actually working?

One sense-check I like to do regularly is to extrapolate current results into the future.

Gaining 100 followers per month right now? Well in 12 months that’s 1200 followers.

Yes, everything takes time to get going, and your efforts will compound, but that might feel too low for you after 1 year of effort. If that’s the case, then something needs to change.

Experiment, experiment, experiment until you find a formula that works for you. And remember, high-performing content doesn’t always take more time than low-performing content.

📞 Book a 1:1 call with me 📞

It’s great to meet members of this community and I truly want you to succeed. If you want 2024 to be your best year yet, check out the link below for more information.

See availability

❤️ Content I LOVED

🎙 Podcast - Lex Fridman’s podcast with Jeff Bezos

- This is the first podcast Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, has done in recent years. Learning more about his story and hearing how he thinks was fascinating.

📚 Book - A Million Miles in a Thousand Years (Donald Miller)

Imagine if your life was being made into a film... well how interesting would that film be? I guarantee you that this book will inspire your next adventure.

📸 Quote - “Have I rested enough to do my best work?”

✍️ Quote of the week

❝

When things don't work, double down on iteration. When things do work, double down on consistency.

Janiz Ollins