We’ve heard all about them — the overnight successes, the companies that come out of nowhere, the personalities that appear out of thin air, the success that just happens because – well you know they were lucky.

Guess what – it almost never happens that way.  It’s all the work before that, all the practice, all the pieces leading up to it, and — most importantly all the patience and persistence.  Mike talked about this a bit this fall in Marketing & College Football: Look Elsewhere for Instant Gratification and we see this day in and day out.  Think about it:

• Starbucks has been in business for 40 years, and most of us had never heard of it until the last couple decades, now they are everywhere.
• Howard Smith had the initial idea for Federal Express in 1965 and launched the company in 1971.  By 1973 he was so desperate for cash to make payroll that he flew to Vegas, played the blackjack tables, and wired the $27,000 he won back to FedEx. In 2010, FedEx did $34 Billion in sales and currently sits at number 60 on the Fortune 500.
• Mike Kryzewski (yes Tracy, this one’s for you) went 17-13 his first year at Duke, followed by 10-17 and 11-17 seasons, for a record of 38-47 over three years.  No doubt in today’s climate there would not have been a 4^th year at Duke for Coach K – let alone the 30^th he is going on now and chasing the all time wins record. (Note: as a Maryland fan, this last bullet pained me immensely).
• Vince Lombardi led his team to a very pedestrian 8-4 and 7-5 in his first 2 seasons with the Packers  — then rattled off 5 titles in 7 years.
• Legendary UCLA coach John Wooden went 15 years before winning his first national title – which would get him run out of town these days.  All he did after that was win another 9 in the next 11 years.

So what’s the point?  Real success doesn’t happen overnight.  Instead, it takes preparation, patience and persistence to reach real success.

Or, as coach Wooden famously said:

• Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.
• Flexibility is the key to stability.
• Perform at your best when your best is required. Your best is required each day.

Couldn’t have said it better myself…

About the Author: Will Davis is Managing Partner of Right Source Marketing.  Don’t hesitate to drop Will a comment on this post.  If you liked this post, follow @willdavis on Twitter for more commentary like this and subscribe to our RSS feed.