Why you can’t improve anything (meaningfully) overnight

At regular points in life, there come moments where a sudden realisation takes hold of us and we boldly proclaim “I need to do something about this!”.

Whether that is finally quitting that job to pursue our passion or taking the dive and enlisting in an intensive gym routine to shed those pounds we want rid of. Regardless of what you are trying to improve, one central tenet to productivity rings true: consistency is key.

This painfully portentous proverb is the kind of thing we have heard throughout our lives, handed down to us from everyone from our grandmas to our earliest teachers at school. As painful as it is to accept, there is a reason that we are constantly reminded to wake up each day and “do our very best”. Put simply, success depends on constant hard work over a prolonged period of time.

The idea of overnight success is incredibly alluring and sexy. These are the kinds of things we dream of and we cling to stories of such success that we might recreate them if we grind hard enough. However, this thinking is self-defeating.

An ‘overnight’ success is merely what we see on the surface: tangible, measurable metrics that make for great headlines. “New entrepreneur makes $10,000 overnight!” makes for a much catchier title than “man achieves financial freedom after forty years of improving his business slowly each day”…

A so-called ‘overnight’ success is but the tip of the iceberg. It is a notion that misleadingly conceals potentially years of effort that have led a person up to a certain moment. These instances rarely occur serendipitously, rather consistent effort over time might bring one to a high-leverage moment. This might be interpreted as a quick success story, however, does not reflect the reality of the work that contributed to that moment.

Again it is tempting to think of the titans of entrepreneurship who transformed their comapiens to counter this argument. Many cite the likes of Steve Jobs and Elon Musk as examples of this. But a closer inspection of both of their stories reveals a common theme to any notions of success.

Yes, they transformed their companies in short spaces of time, but hidden behind that is working 20-hour days, not seeing your family for days on end and sleeping in the office to maximise performance. By no means do we need to behave like this to achieve what we want (again, these examples are truly amazing) and nor should we.

Rather, they serve as practical reminders that you need to work hard at something to get to a high-leverage point whereby a seemingly small effort pays huge dividends.

So what is the moral of the story?

Overnight success represents years of success at a high leverage moment. Therefore, remember the wisdom your teachers told you and be consistent over a long period of time.