Unless Kim Kardashian does a post claiming you to be her next BFF or you’re Justin Bieber’s rumoured new flame, overnight Instagram success rarely ever happens (and if it does, it comes along beside a few question marks). Those at the top have worked hard to get there, with some putting in hours of work behind-the-scenes just to post one picture to their feed. A reality Travel In Her Shoes influencer Aggie Lal knows only too well.

Recently hitting 1000 posts on the Gram, Aggie used the milestone to reveal some home truths behind some of her pics – including how she travelled 5 hours one way to capture a picture of a waterfall in Bali and another time where she took a 1 hour car ride and 2 hour boat trip in order to snap a swing in Thailand. That’s dedication right there.

Image credit: @travel_inhershoes Instagram Stories

Discussing some of the commitment found behind the images on her feed, Aggie writes: “Success doesn’t come from what you do occasionally, it comes from what you’re doing consistently. This is my 1000th posts here on @instagram. Before you feel like a failure or like it’s easier for others to succeed, think about me and my 1000 posts that I shot, edited, posted, wrote a caption to and engaged about with my audience.

“Think that for every photo posted here, I took at least 20 shots of that moment (and at least 2 hrs from preparing for a photo, shooting it, transferring files, editing, posting etc). @michaelmoretti and I sometimes travel for hours just to shoot something fun and sometimes end up shooting 5000 photos a day when on the road (we took 10,000 in Greece for my birthday!)”

She continues: “Whenever someone has 5 posts on their IG and asks me how to get to 300k+ followers, I show them the number right next to it and say – it took me 1000 posts and probably 100,000 photos to get to this level. It took me 1000 attempts to build trust between me and my tribe, 1000 attempts to figure out my style, 1000 of hours of work and daily commitment (did you know I have not missed a day of posting for over a year?)

“I guess what I’m trying to say is: there is no substitution for hard work and no such thing as an overnight success – it’s your consistency that will take you places. It’s progress not perfection that will make a difference.”

Image credit: @travel_inhershoes Instagram Stories

Below we take a look at 14 of the pictures found on Travel In Her Shoes that demonstrate just how far Aggie has come during her IG journey…

Boating
NOW: January 2018

THEN: May 2016

Climbing palm trees
NOW: January 2018

THEN: April 2016

Swimming
NOW: Jan 2018

THEN: March 2016

Hanging with friends
NOW: Jan 2018

THEN: July 2016

Bike riding
NOW: Nov 2017

THEN: June 2016

Swinging
NOW: July 2017

THEN: September 2016

Drinks
NOW: Jan 2018

THEN: August 2016

All images: Travel In Her Shoes

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