We all admire successful people. Read the life story of any man or woman you consider successful, and you will see that they all went through hardships in life. These personal struggles served as their motivation for success.
Successful people also share one trait that enabled them to overcome these struggles. They never gave up on their dreams of bettering their life and they showed it through their consistency. They consistently showed up to spend time and effort on their dream; and in the end, their efforts paid off.
Eighty percent of success is showing up.
— Woody Allen
All the greats in their fields have this trait. They show up to practice their craft even when they don’t feel like it. When there are obstacles in their path, they find a way to still do what they need to do. Finally, they get the opportunity to show off their skills and steadily, their talents and achievements gain acknowledgement.
The Show Up Challenge
Take up the same challenge for yourself. Do the Show Up Challenge by following this steps:
- Pick a skill that you have neglected for a while or something new that you want to learn. Prepare everything that you need to start learning or practicing.
- Make a daily schedule where you will spend at least an hour to focus on learning or practicing.
- Do this for at least 30 days without missing a day. If you do miss a day, then make up for it by doubling the duration the next day.
The goal of this challenge is to encourage you to discipline yourself to be consistent in your habits. This also helps you develop a mindset for success. Even if you are just staring at a blank document on your computer screen, or a blank paper, because you can’t come up with anything to write about or draw, it’s okay. The point is to show up and to be there for the process, for the practice, for the learning.
Showing up is essential. Showing up consistently is powerful. Showing up consistently with a positive outlook is even more powerful.
— Jeff Olson
You may need to use an alarm to remind you of your schedule and that’s okay. You may need to force yourself to do it everyday by positive self-talk and that’s alright. Just do it and keep on doing it. Use your creativity to make the activity more fun and rewarding but don’t slack off. Show up consistently to do the work that needs to be done so you can succeed in your goal.
When you show up for yourself you can show up for the world more completely.
— Gabby Bernstein
Practice Makes Perfect
Success is like an iceberg. What we see is just the tip. We only see what great and successful people have already achieved. We often do not see the many struggles they had to endure to get to where they are. They spent many hours to learn and practice their craft. In short, even before they were certain that they could get to perform; they were already rehearsing.
We are all familiar with the saying, “practice makes perfect”. It sounds simple but it takes an extraordinary amount of practice to master one’s craft and perfect it.
It’s simply not enough to just show up and do your work. Superior performance is not, never has been, nor will it ever be, the by-product of ordinary efforts.
— Gary Ryan
Being successful in your field is not a matter of having innate talent either. Many talented people remain unrecognized for their talents because they did not hone it. Many people who did not have the talent, but who were willing to learn and put effort into honing their skills, have become successful in their fields.
Sometimes the bravest and most important thing you can do is just to show up.
— Brene Brown
It takes a lot of self-discipline to be successful in anything. Just like you, all the “greats” started with baby steps. The important thing is; they did not hesitate to take the first step and they kept moving forward.
Take up this challenge. Start with a small goal and keep showing up until you feel ready to take on the next step.
Feature Image: Original Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels
