Doesn’t that picture of Jay Z make you want to go gaga? Success sure does look sexy on Hov. Thing is, that’s not the whole picture. Jay Z’s beginnings can be traced to drug dealing, a shameful career by any standard. Today, however, he is the one of the most successful rappers of all time. But success didn’t just happen like that. For some time, Jay Z was an unsigned rapper who sold his mixtapes out of his car.

This is the point James Clear makes in this thread. Success is not the glamourous cover of a magazine; it’s blood and sweat and tears behind the scenes. See below:

1/ The success you see others experiencing is rarely as sexy as it appears to be.

— James Clear (@james_clear) July 29, 2017

END/ I've written a lot more about the process behind success. This article is a good place to start: https://t.co/eXJrKX1Nrb

— James Clear (@james_clear) July 29, 2017

Reactions:

This thread communicated most of the things I'd been finding words to articulate about the idea of 'overnight success'. Thank you!

— Helen of Troy (@LolaofLagos) July 30, 2017

In short, as Mark Pilgrim once wrote: "It took a lot of effort to make it look effortless."

— Xavier Borderie (@xavierborderie) July 30, 2017

The reality is great highs, terrible lows and unrelenting stress. Don't think people want to hear about the last two.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 30, 2017

Case in point https://t.co/zlFJ2knhhV

— Artur Adib (@r2r) July 31, 2017

Thank you; you put life back into perspective on a day when I needed it most. As you always do.

— ?lauren (@unsoundedbelief) July 29, 2017

Agree with specifics, but early advantages act as multipliers on effort, see Matthew/halo effect, often falsely attributed as pure merit.

— Janto McMullin (@JantoMc) July 30, 2017

You only see what they want you to see. Naturally you don't see the behind the curtains routines.

— BCBCBCBCBC (@shivam01anand) July 29, 2017

Deep.