One of my friends recently shared content online and was welcomed with an unbelievable amount of engagement. As a creative, this is usually a form of validation that your work is cherished by others. But what’s tempting is we might keep churning out the same kind of content without feeling the need to innovate because after all, we’ve discovered a recipe that works. However, my friend understood that sustained growth is an organic process and honing her craft must take precedent. She understood that the ones who make the most noise are often the ones who are often put on the pedestal at the early stages.
There’s this fascinating story where a woman walked up to Picasso and asked him to sketch an image on a piece of paper. Within 5 minutes, he completed the sketch and charged $10,000. The woman, astounded, protested that it only took 5 minutes. Picasso retorted, “the sketch may have taken 5 minutes but the learning took me 30 years.” Funny how in our digitally connected world, we strive for that 5 minutes of fame when we haven’t injected the years of hard work to sustain that fame or wealth- whichever we deem most important.
For context. At a recent business forum in the states, I listened keenly to a conversation about the role music plays in Africa’s global relevance. As the panelists shared their different perspectives, one in particular told a story where she once voiced out her idea about launching a music platform to a reputed investor. Immediately, the investor offered to write her a $100,000 check. What others may not have extracted from her testimony was the fact that she had spent three solid years writing about music trends on her blog. This gave her credibility and made it easier for someone with reputation to trust her.
It may seem what you’re working on in this season does not make sense. You cannot envision the returns nor smell the breakthrough from afar. But let me encourage you. Sometimes it’s not what you see on the surface level that matters; it’s what you attract based on the purity of your heart and the intentions of your elevation. Keep honing fam- the quick hype always dies down at some point.