A great reminder from Seth Godin. Everyone wants to be “discovered”, everyone wants to be an “overnight success”.
The reality is that you have to pay your dues, you have to work for years to reach the night over which your success happens. Jimmy Page (and, indeed, the recently departed Glen Campbell) were session guitarists before their fame. Hendrix, too, was a backing musician. Einstein was a patent clerk.
As Seth says:
The thing about being discovered is that in addition to being fabulous, it’s incredibly rare. Because few people have the time or energy to go hunting for something that might not be there.
The alternative?
To be sought out.
Instead of hoping that people will find you, the alternative is to become the sort of person these people will go looking for.