Lilly Singh: Like No Other
You all remember the phrase… “What up everyone it’s ya girl Superwoman!”
She started off as Superwoman by creating some pretty dope content on YouTube and of course dressing up as her parents. Let me tell you, me and my sister love them so much that we still use their lines randomly (i.e “mommy my head hurts!” “did ju eat the joghurt?”).
Lilly is probably the only person who I have seen become successful with my own eyes. Let me explain.
I have been following her journey since late 2014, early 2015 when I discovered her through her videos (think the first one was recommended by a friend). I remember the vlogs about sleepless nights in her parents house, constantly saying that she’s tired, working her butt off every single day (and I mean every single day), going on tour, moving to LA, first apartment, publishing her first book, first house, late night show and now finally moving to a fancy house in 2020. She’s a beast!
I have to be honest, I haven’t seen much of the late night show because it’s not my cup of tea. And she’d be the first to agree that you don’t have to be a fan of everything someone else does. I still go back and watch her skits and even vlogs from when she started because I find them so inspiring and the skits are hella funny! She was very honest and transparent through it all that I can tell you, if you watch them you can actually be inspired and encouraged enough to start your journey. She did not sugarcoat anything and she did not waste a single minute. That’s the hustle.
Lilly is one of the most influential and successful people in Hollywood right now and she did it all by herself. She didn’t know anyone in the industry, she wasn’t related to anyone and she definitely didn’t make it by going viral.
I wanna mention a few things that she has accomplished which I have found to be very inspiring and hope that you will take away some of it too.
Videos every Monday & Thursday
I am a firm believer of consistency. It is something that has proven to be the only driving force to any sort of success in life. In a creative platform, consistency builds an audience, consistency builds longevity. That’s why many successful people advise us to do the things we love, then it becomes easy to be consistent. That is especially true in the case of Lilly Singh because she always kept to her uploading schedule. Even when she was travelling, she would upgrade her hotel wifi or switch hotels or do whatever it takes, to upload that video. Of course, it doesn’t always work out but she tried her best. That is all you can do and the satisfaction you get knowing you have given your best is a feeling like no other.
“Words lie; actions can lie too. Consistency speak” - Lilly Singh
Publishing a Book
This is still one of my favourite non-fiction reads! Even now, I would take it out and read some chapters whenever I need to get my head on straight and focus on my goals and discipline myself. One thing I’ve noticed with Lilly is that if she’s ever putting out something that requires people to spend their money, she will make sure that it is of the best quality possible as well as affordable. If you have a copy you know how sleek the pages are, how beautiful the layout is and how it doesn’t feel like you’re reading a book but more like having a conversation with her.
It’s a little hard to get your hands on the book right now so I recommend you listen to the audiobook which she narrated herself. I highly recommend it. It’s a very underrated book but deserves as much praise and recognition as books like the 4-Hour Work Week or The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*uck.
Daily Vlogs
She started doing daily vlogs when it wasn’t a thing. Even now, very few YouTubers do daily vlogs because it is not easy to record, edit and publish a video every single day. It’s not. Even if you’re the most interesting person in the world there will be times when things get repetitive and uninteresting. It’s not an easy job to keep the viewer’s attention on your daily life even for 10 minutes if you’re not doing a food challenge or a prank. But she did it for years. I still watch those early vlogs because they really inspire me to get my butt out of bed and do something productive when I don’t feel like it. She vlogged on tour, she vlogged when she was writing the book and these videos are on top of the two main videos per week. It’s incredible.
Having a Team
It is not easy to delegate your work (especially when you’ve been doing it all by yourself for years) to other people and trust that they would do a good job. I remember how she refused to do that and refused to hire her own team because of it. I completely agreed with it because of the perfectionist that I am. It’s hard for me to ask for help. She taught me how useful and important it is to let that go in order to climb the ladder because I saw the freedom she got to pursue other avenues when she wasn’t bogged down to editing videos for hours on end or having to dress up like all her characters.
Yes, you have to work hard, but you cannot do it alone. This might not seem like a big deal to some but it is an eccentric behavior that many people tend to overlook. I’m still working on it.
And finally…
Still Hustling Hard
This is how you build your empire. Take it from her, it’s possible. You just need to hustle (the real kind, not the hashtag kind). And with all her success, she’s still going strong!
She is incredibly hard-working and a perfect example of creating success with your own two hands. I want to end this piece with her own words.
“… there is enough room in this world for all of us to succeed. We all have what it takes to be the best version of ourselves. Sometimes our inner Bawse gets knocked down and discouraged, and that’s okay. That’s temporary. That doesn’t define you. Your strength is everlasting. You are the most powerful person in your life, and don’t you ever forget that you call the shots.”
- Lilly Singh
