Show up
The best advice for anyone who wants to succeed at anything is this: Show up.
It sounds so simple but how many never learn it or forget it.
I tell new employees that the secret to advancing is showing up - physically and mentally. Those who get ahead are present. They drag their asses out of bed, make the necessary arrangements and appear at the appointed time. They are then ready to work - Not to chit chat, not to gossip, not to find other things to do, but to work. That's it. So simple. And I realize that there is much more involved in success but I have noticed that those who show up pick up all the other skills more easily.
In school, those kids with good attendance, who pay attention - those who show up - are the better performers. Give me the kid with a good attendance record any day of the week. And we make fun of those who sit front and center. "Brown-noser", "suck up", "teacher's pet". The question every student should ask is this: Why am I here? Answer? To learn. If you go to a rock concert, where would you choose to sit?
The saying that you can't win if you don't show up is an important truth. Those who don't show up will certainly not succeed. Those who get there physically but can't make it mentally will get half the measure they could. In sports, life, family, community, anywhere, show up and you have improved your odds of triumph exponentially.
And the "genius" who can't make it to work but is an absolute star when he decides to be there is almost entirely a myth. This creature is certainly among a tiny minority and not one to be emulated anyway. Best to stack the deck in your favor and show up.
It sounds so simple but how many never learn it or forget it.
I tell new employees that the secret to advancing is showing up - physically and mentally. Those who get ahead are present. They drag their asses out of bed, make the necessary arrangements and appear at the appointed time. They are then ready to work - Not to chit chat, not to gossip, not to find other things to do, but to work. That's it. So simple. And I realize that there is much more involved in success but I have noticed that those who show up pick up all the other skills more easily.
In school, those kids with good attendance, who pay attention - those who show up - are the better performers. Give me the kid with a good attendance record any day of the week. And we make fun of those who sit front and center. "Brown-noser", "suck up", "teacher's pet". The question every student should ask is this: Why am I here? Answer? To learn. If you go to a rock concert, where would you choose to sit?
The saying that you can't win if you don't show up is an important truth. Those who don't show up will certainly not succeed. Those who get there physically but can't make it mentally will get half the measure they could. In sports, life, family, community, anywhere, show up and you have improved your odds of triumph exponentially.
And the "genius" who can't make it to work but is an absolute star when he decides to be there is almost entirely a myth. This creature is certainly among a tiny minority and not one to be emulated anyway. Best to stack the deck in your favor and show up.
So true. A corollary rule is those who volunteer to write the report or do the research are the ones who can help influence the final work product and related decisions. Not for the purpose of getting the credit (but you will), but for the purpose of getting the best outcome. That's not to suggest that you hoard information or not get the input of others either. That is counterproductive and will earn you the wrath of even the slackers.
It's just my observation that agreeing to do the dirty work or the heavy lifting is just another way to "show up."
Reply to this
I agree, Bob.
Reply to this
This is the best advice I have ever seen you write. Long winded motivational speakers have absolutely nothing on this simple piece of advice.
At 14 desperately wanted a job and Croton Egg Farm would hire 14 year olds. I found a man that worked there, got up at 4 am every morning to catch a ride with him and went to ask for a job and wait until the afternoon for a ride back home. I did that for 3 days and that was all it took to get a job at the most miserable place to work in Central Ohio. I did have a job and I just had to keep showing up. First great lesson I ever taught myself too.
The military was a big fan of showing up. I had quite a few misadventures, but showing up trumped those problems.
I've got 2 other jobs simply by showing up, even when I wasn't hired yet.
I had one job where my boss fit the "genius" category, but rarely showed up. He blamed me, the guy that showed up, for everything that went wrong. It worked out for him, so I quit showing up there and started showing up somewhere else. Things worked out.
The whole trick to fixing things when you show up and things don't work is to just show up somewhere else where they will. It's kept me going for many years now.
I think the reason that showing up is a big secret is that it's not something a company can put on the bulletin board. You're right, you have to work when you get there and that takes some simplicity out of the message. The big plus to showing up is that since you're there, you might as well work, even if it's just to kill the monotony.
I once watched a top level manager call my boss that wouldn't show up and ask him why he was a no-show. That genius actually told the manager that he was watching TV! The manager asked what was on and told him that the he'd seen the show and it really wasn't that good and that if it were him, he'd just show up at work. 15 minutes later, my boss showed up! The suggestion worked like magic!
Keep on showing up!
Reply to this
"80% of success is just showing up."
- Woody Allen
Reply to this