Most of the time, people only pay attention to the big events that take place. The things that give you no choice but to go see what's going on.
The government bailouts of big financial firms and auto companies were those type of events. A country declaring war on another country is another example.

But those things don't just happen out of nowhere. The bad accounting and overspending was happening every single day. That foreign dictator had been building up his military and storage of weapons for years. Those things were right there in front of us, too, just too small to pay attention to.

What this all means for you: you can build up your skills or your brand or your business or the big offensive maneuver you're planning in your field quietly. Day by day, step by step, piece by piece. Those small steps don't draw attention -- too insignificant for anyone to care. And when you're consistent with them, people will just accept them as your normal behavior, and it slowly fades into the background of "what we're used to". Before anyone knows it, though, you've amassed something formidable, something to be paid attention to. You pop, and everyone, everywhere, is talking about your entity now. To most people it'll seem that it happened overnight.
It did -- just not one night.