“Keep Showing up” is a common thought that keeps going through my head lately. Depending on the moment, I feel like I am in varying degrees of struggle and I don’t think I am the only one. I truly believe that if you keep showing up and doing your best you will achieve “success.” The challenging part is not giving up or if you do give up, calling it a rest or a sabbatical or time to regroup and then to start “showing up” again. It is only if you stop trying or stop getting up after the falls that you are defeated. You are never truly defeated if you are alive and have more time to make changes and try again.
Sometimes all I can do is the minimum. All I can do is just show up. Yet, if you show up you are showing that you care. You are prioritizing whatever that is – that activity or that person. You are communicating to yourself and others that ____________ is worth showing up for. It may be a habit and some of it is the effort to create the habit of ________________.
I want to write more consistently. Yet, I don’t want to waste your time or my time with “not good enough” writing. There is a value to just writing something and appreciating that sometimes that is enough. The more I write, hopefully, the better I get.
What is my intention for these posts? To share my knowledge, things of interest, parts of myself, and common struggles. The main intention though is to become a better writer and communicator. These posts are primarily for me. (Sometimes I need to remind myself of that).
I can’t remember if I have shared this before and I may not have all the details correct, but I remember reading about a study where there were two photography classes. One class got a grade based on their submitted work of a certain number of photos and nothing else. The other group’s grade was based on the number of photos that they took. The students that took more photos ended up with much better quality award-winning photos than those that worked on creating and submitting “The Best Photos.”
To me, that is what showing up means. Practice, make the effort and the improvements will come. Not just for the achievement of goals but for living your values too. I want to connect and spend more time with the people I care about. Every week I am trying to reach out to people. Sometimes I forget, or it is too busy and it doesn’t happen. Yet, I am still trying. Recently, I called three people. None of them could talk but at least I made the effort and left voicemails. I was planting seeds for future connections and building / maintaining my friendships. I let people know I was thinking of them and I showed up for this commitment to myself.
Hopefully, not all of the time, but when things feel hard, or challenging it is ok to do the minimum. It is the long road and consistent action (not perfection) that matters. It is giving yourself grace when you don’t do what you said you would. I believe that if we keep at something, we will figure it out. It may take a long time and it may include many mistakes but as long as you keep trying I believe anything can be accomplished.
Who do you want to be? What are the qualities you would like people to think of when they think of you? What behaviors or actions would it take to demonstrate these qualities and values? How can you incorporate these behaviors in your day?
What does “showing up” mean to you?
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