Maybe you’ve heard this before: 80 percent of success is showing up.
I tried to track down who it was that originally said that and the closest I could get was a quote from Woody Allen, but he was talking about life.
I agree with the quote, but what, exactly does “Showing up” mean?
On the surface, I think it means exactly what it says. You’ve got to “Be there”. Whether “There” means submitting your work, going to a workshop, or a convention, or finding the nerve to go up to that person or (shudder) group and introduce yourself*, showing up is essential.
Looking at the blank screen this morning, trying to figure out what I was going to write about, I discovered a deeper meaning to “Showing up.”
Showing up is the Monday morning writing session after the convention has ended, before work, before the sun has risen. Showing up is working on a Friday night, when your gang wants you to other things. Showing up is getting the work done. Even when you don’t want to do it. Especially when you don’t want to do it. But you do it anyway.
Looking at it from that perspective, I’m going to bump that percentage up to 90 or even 95 and reserve that final 5-10 percent for the things that you can’t control.
That’s what showing up means. You put in the work. You practice. You improve.
90 percent of success is showing up and, if you keep showing up, you’ll succeed.
Good Luck**
Time: 11:26 am – ish
Music: Breaking Benjamin – The Diary of Jane
*This is something that I struggle with every time. And every time I manage to get past it – and there have been moments where I haven’t – it has been worth it. Every. Time.
**Luck would fall into that 5-10% of things that you can’t control, but I’ve found that the better prepared you are to capitalize on Luck, the more often opportunities to capitalize on Luck will arise.