We talk a lot about overnight success but we don’t talk enough about overnight doubt.
The nights where you question yourself.
The mornings where motivation is missing.
The days where progress feels invisible.
And yet… that’s where success is built.
Our podcast I’M FINE (but…) reached #17 in the Apple Podcast Business & Entrepreneur charts this morning just behind Diary of a CEO and ahead of Denzel Washington’s podcast. A sentence I still don’t believe is real.
But this didn’t happen through luck, shortcuts or virality. It happened through consistency. Showing up. Not quitting. Recording when it wasn’t convenient. Posting when it didn’t perform. Continuing when the results were slow.
Hard work isn’t glamorous.
It’s repetitive.
It’s unsexy.
It’s quiet.
And it’s exactly why most people stop.
We’re conditioned to want instant results something me and Catriona from Leeds BabyBeats discuss her episode but real progress happens in the unseen hours the unshared effort, the private discipline, the moments when no one is watching.
No-one saw me throwing hundreds of pounds of my own money into podcasting software (yes that might mean no holiday abroad this year... sorry kids!)
No-one saw me up until the early hours most nights for months researching how to create great podcast intros and sign offs.
No-one saw me recording with my sister in order to get the sound, lighting and audio right.
No-one but google has seen how much I have searched for how to produce, edit and launch a podcast.
No-one sees the hours I have pitched to the media before the launch because...
Hard work doesn’t always look like success.
But success almost always looks like hard work.
You’re all building something right now, a business, a career, a version of yourself and it feels slow, lonely or unrecognised… that doesn’t mean it’s not working. It means it’s working quietly.
And quiet work still counts.
Because one day, the results show up and people call it “overnight.”
But you’ll know the truth.