Shakira's first two albums failed - what if she had given up?

With the World Cup in full swing, Shakira is everywhere right now (I'm a big fan!), and it got me reflecting.

I actually saw Shakira in concert for the very first time back in 1995, when I was 11 years old. Back then, she had already started gathering huge success in Colombia, and the rest of Latin America was starting to hear about her.

I also distinctly remember the second time I saw her perform. It was around 2001, at London Hyde Park's 'Party in the Park'. This was around the time she had just started singing in English and had launched internationally. I remember feeling so proud of her. But I also remember how nervous and unsure she looked. Her performance was lacking. Clearly, the new international stage and singing in English was totally outside her comfort zone.

Fast forward a couple of decades, and she is a worldwide star and one of the highest-performing Latin artists of all time, as well as one of the World Cup's biggest icons.

I loved watching her World Cup performance a couple of weeks ago, and it made me feel such a tremendous sense of joy for her - having witnessed her entire career trajectory, her visible nervousness when first singing in English...to now being a worldwide phenomenon. It was breathtaking.

She is also a remarkable philanthropist, having set up her own foundation at age 18, which continues to run strongly today. She regularly directly contributes and raises huge sums of money to aid eradication of poverty and hunger, and improve access to education globally. So her impact goes far beyond music.

The reason I'm sharing this is that reflecting on her career trajectory, it struck me how she has built something over the course of 35+ years, and now she is reaping the rewards of 3+ decades of dedication to her craft.

Shakira actually had two albums prior to 1995 that were a 'failure.' They performed really poorly. Yet she stuck with it, and eventually her 'Pies Descalzos' album took off. The rest is history.

Had she taken those first two albums as 'evidence' that she was a failure, the world wouldn't have enjoyed her songs and performances across 3+ decades and wouldn't have benefitted from her philanthropic work.

I'm seeing her live for the 4th time this September in Madrid, and I am so excited! Shakira's music, performances and cultural influence have brought so much joy into my life, and continue to do so.

I'm just so glad that 1993 Shakira didn't give up when her first two albums didn't perform.

So think about your own business, venture, or dream that you'd love to bring to life, or that you are already growing and expanding.

Remind yourself that you've got time.

Much of the work you do now won't necessarily be visible until some time later. It's like compound interest - it's invisible at first, but once it gathers momentum, the magnitude of its impact becomes almost immeasurable.

Imagine if Shakira had had Instagram in 1993. Two albums that flopped, her 'failures' played out in public, with everyone else seemingly thriving and succeeding around her. Would she have kept going? I'd like to think yes, but it would have been so much harder.

We live in a world that sells us overnight success. But what we don't see is the years or decades of quiet, unglamorous work that came before the breakthrough. Shakira was 17 years old and already two album 'failures' deep before anything took off. If she had given up, no one would have blamed her, but it would have robbed the world of decades of enjoyment and positive impact.

Give yourself the time it takes to succeed.

You are probably much earlier in your story than you think.

Wishing you a wonderful rest of your week, and enjoy the World Cup if you're watching