We all have this hope, which is sometimes so strong as to become a belief, that it’s just a matter of time until we catch our big break. We are one personal interaction away from landing that big client that is going to change the landscape of our practice. My next book is going to land on the bestseller list. The next podcast episode is the one that is going to bring hoards of listeners.

We want so badly for our big break to be right around the corner that we choose not to believe it is unlikely to materialize. But the reality is big breaks are unicorns.

Overnight success stories are myths. Most “overnight successes” are people who have been working on their craft for twenty years. They have been showing up and doing their work every day. Grinding. It’s just that you’ve never heard of them before, so you think their success was a big break. It wasn’t. It was the culmination of years of dedication. Years of determination. And a whole smattering of tenacity.

So what do you do if your big break never happens?

Keep showing up every day and doing your work. You can’t count on luck or rely on talent. All you can do is show up, do your work, and push things forward one day at a time. Keep building your brand and marketing yourself. Write the next word, the next sentence. Put more content into the world. Develop your craft. Dig deep. And push forward.

[Portions of this episode are an excerpt from my book Stop Putting Out Fires.]

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Today’s show is sponsored by ALPS, the nation’s largest direct writer of lawyers’ malpractice insurance. Right now you can get 25% off one CLE seminar from ALPS. Go to alpsinsurance.com/cle and use promo code LAWYERPRENEUR upon check-out.