Bottom line from my perspective is that success CAN happen over night if you’ve been working hard and have a plan and take action on that plan and know where you’re going. THEN you absolutely one day and wake up and realize you’ve finally made it, and others will then look at you as the over night success and question what you did and how it happened to you so fast.

Each year was better than the last, of course. And according to my growth chart and mathematical calculations, I expect to own a mansion that has bathtubs filled with gold within just two short years.

@ThoreyO – Hi! It’s those last few steps that get most of the attention but it gives us a skewed impression of how things are achieved.

@Susan – I admire your grit and determination and your honesty about sitting on your ass and moping. I’ve definitely been there and sometimes reaching that point of pure frustration is just what you need to spur you on and keep going.

@Business Logos – Definitely, believing in yourself is a powerful skill to have to succeed and for me, looking at overnight successes dulls that rather than working to improve what I do.

@Mellaman – I think your point shows that James is a perfect example of the overnight success.

There are a lot of people who became aware of James and her work after the article explaining why she adopted a male name. Suddenly everyone was talking about it and it got a lot of attention.

But like I mention in the post, it’s too easy to focus on this part of James’ journey and if you only read that article you’d be forgiven for thinking that taking a male name was the only reason she succeeded.

However, it doesn’t take a genius to see past that and discover the real formula for Jame’s success: the volumes of great writing, first class freelancing advice, the eBooks James has released, the guest posts she has written and the fantastic service that has resulted in an extensive client list.

Regardless of how much attention James received by adopting a male name, it’s her relentless determination and prolific writing that created her own “overnight success.”
.-= Amy Harrison´s last blog ..Will Creativity Build or Break your Business? =-.

Hmmm, I think you have selective reading going on, if I couldn’t write well, didn’t have skills and wasn’t able to perform at a higher ability, then I wouldn’t have reached ANY kind of success, male or female.

My personal experience in regards to gender and names is that I’ve found a male name attracts MORE success and provides MORE opportunities than a female name.

But a name is not all it takes. I’m not sure where you read that.

Also! While gender bias is a lovely topic I’m happy to discuss via email, it would certainly be a better idea to focus on Amy’s post and HER ideas, don’t you think? So if you’d like to pursue the subject, give me a shout via the contact form.

@Matthew D: I’m not playing the gender card, that’s what “James” did when she wrote that she was able to achieve success simply by pretending to be male. I simply point out that if it was that simple then why the need to write about all the various requirements essential to achieve success, when you previously claimed that all it takes is a male first name? If you’re unsuccessful, just adopt a male name. How that explains the lack of success of those who already have male names, perhaps “James” can tell us.

“I’d like to think that success hinges on far more than just being male”

Then perhaps you shouldn’t have written an article claiming that that was all there was to it?