In case you’ve been hiding under a rock over the last few weeks, the name on everyone’s lips has been Ted Williams. No, not the Baseball star from the 40’s and 50’s (OK, I didn’t really know much about that Ted Williams until I googled the current Ted Williams, but aren’t you impressed?).
Ted Williams is the homeless man with the golden voice. He was discovered after a YouTube video of him begging on a Columbus, Ohio street went viral. Over a very short span of time every major radio station and network was trying to get a piece of him, to be the one to save him from his life – and get the publicity for it. Overnight, this man of obscurity became famous.
There’s a saying that there’s no such thing as overnight success. Despite fairy tale stories like this, that is true. So often we dream about the “if only”. If only I could be discovered at a drug store like Lana Turner. If only someone would hand me a bundle of cash and say, here pursue your dream, like Carol Burnett. If only someone would give me the break I deserve at work. If only someone would just see how brilliant I am and give me a hand up.
The truth is, even the “overnight success” stories take some time. Yes, Carol was approached by a philanthropist when he saw her work and gave her a wad of cash to pursue her dreams. She could have just as easily taken the money and run or gone to New York only to discover that she didn’t really have much talent after all and failed miserably. She still had to work to achieve the success she did. Given her talent and drive, chances are she would have done the same without the money.
The bulk of people who achieve success, no matter what the arena, did it as a result of hard work and determination. Of course they took advantage of the opportunities that came their way and probably worked hard to get those chances. Even stories like Ted Williams’, have a history in behind it that made it happen. If Ted had decided to sleep in that day or be on a different street corner – or even worse – give up completely, that video never would have been posted. If he had only dreamed of being a DJ when he was younger and not practiced and gotten training, he’d be just another disheveled guy on the corner with a cardboard sign.
Eddie Cantor once said, “It takes 20 years to create an overnight success.” With today’s technology, the time frame may be shorter, but the principle is still the same. In order to get the success you say you want, you have to put yourself in motion towards it – and wait.
Success seems to happen so much faster now, but so do the burnouts. We have cautionary tale after cautionary tale to warn us that overnight success isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. If you’re not ready for success, it can tear you apart.
Anyone remember Britney’s breakdown a few years ago? She’s still struggling dealing with the publicity of her life and her meteoric rise to stardom so young.
What about Susan Boyle? The original video of her singing “I Dreamed a Dream” on Britain’s got talent last April has been viewed nearly 10 million times. It still gives me goosebumps. The “ugly Scottish woman” who’s been singing since she was 12 having such composure and confidence in front of hundreds of people judging her on her looks and a skeptical jury. It’s stirring! I wrote about her incredible story when it broke. Her star rose like a rocket. And within a week she was showing the stress of the new found attention. She seems to have gotten a handle on it since, thankfully.
Now we have Ted Williams. Dozens of interviews and pages and pages of newsprint and web presence and he’s already crashed. After decades of substance abuse and only two years sober, the sudden attention has sent him back into rehab. Let’s hope it’s short lived and he gets the tools he needs to get a handle on his life – and that he takes it more slowly so he can get his feet solidly back under him.
Fairy tales aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. A good dose of reality is much more effective. Take your lumps to get where you need to be with the strength and skills necessary to make it last. Often, when you get where you want to be something happens to take it away. Just ask every millionaire how often he’s lost a fortune. When you’ve done the work, you can always do it again. Nothing worth having comes fast so patience is valuable.
Just as really good bread need to rise, be pounded down, rise again and baked before it becomes the glorious entity it’s to become, so you need to wait and take your lumps.
It’ll be worth it, I promise. Keep the goal in mind, take steps in that direction and watch what unfolds before you.
Hugs, Christie