It’s said that every journey begins with a single step. My problem is that once I take those monumental first steps, I expect to see some immediate results. Patience is not my virtue. If I’ve finally screwed up my courage to charge at that mountain, I expect that thing to move at least a couple of feet. NOW!

But it doesn’t quite work that way. Despite what some positivity gurus tell you about how you can think good thoughts and good things will come quickly, it’s not quite as easy as rubbing the lamp, making three wishes, and getting immediate results. Some work is involved … and some waiting, too. And as Tom Petty once sang, “the waiting is the hardest part.” The best way to handle it: by moving on to the next task.

Today John Grisham is well-known for his long line of best-selling legal thrillers and the blockbuster films they’ve inspired. But as agent/author Betsy Lerner recounts in her book The Forest for the Trees, in the late 1980s, Grisham was a small-town lawyer putting in long hours in the office, then coming home and working on his first novel into the wee hours of the morning. After three years, the novel, A Time to Kill, was finally finished. Grisham managed to find an agent willing to take on the project and start marketing it to potential publishers.

That’s it. End of story. On to the Big Time!

Not quite.

Slow start

Instead, the first chapter of Grisham’s life as a novelist read more like “John Grisham wrote a novel and no one cared.” For a year, his agent collected nothing but rejections.

Grisham could have spent that year hanging his head and wringing his hands because, after all the work he’d invested, his career mountain hadn’t budged. Instead, he was patient. He kept putting in long hours at the office, then coming home and working on his second novel into the wee hours of the morning. By the time this novel, The Firm, was finished, Grisham’s agent had finally gotten a contract for his first. His three years of working into the wee hours brought an advance of $15,000.

The publisher printed 5,000 copies of A Time to Kill. Grisham bought 1,000. And that was the extent of the buyer enthusiasm. The publishing house folded. But instead of beating his head against the wall at the slow movement of his mountain, Grisham simply started work on his third novel, The Pelican Brief. And while he was working and patiently waiting for success to catch up to his efforts, a funny thing happened: Someone in Hollywood heard about The Firm.

Big finish

Although no publisher had shown an interest, Paramount was intrigued. The studio bought the film rights to the story for $600,000. Based on the Paramount deal, within two weeks, Doubleday—one of many publishers that had passed on A Time to Kill—offered Grisham a lucrative book deal.

A Time to Kill, The Firm, The Pelican Brief, and each of John Grisham’s subsequent titles have been international best-sellers. Sales of his books alone have exceeded $100 million. So far, 10 of his works have been adapted for the screen, and three more film projects are in production.

Grisham has proved that good things don’t necessarily come immediately. But they often come to those who work and wait.