Show up on good days.
Show up on bad days.
Show up when you want to.
Show up when you don’t want to.
Show up when you’re hot.
Show up when you’re cold.
Show up when you’re energetic.
Show up when you’re tired.
Show up when there’s a crowd.
Show up when nobody’s watching.
Show up for others.
Show up for yourself.
Show up when it’s a struggle.
Show up when you’re having fun.
Show up when you’re confident.
Show up when you face doubts.
Show up when it’s easy.
Show up when it’s hard.
One of the most important skills for excellent performance (and honestly, for an excellent life) is showing up.
Relationships. Sports. Art. Music. Business. Creativity. Craft. Parenting. Coaching. It doesn’t matter the pursuit; you’ve got to show up.
People think intensity drives progress, but it’s much more about consistency. It’s not about hitting home runs, but stepping into the arena and putting the ball in play. It’s about being there over and over again.
There’s this myth that you need to feel good to get going, that you need to be super inspired and super motivated all the time. But more often than not, in reality, what you need is to get going to give yourself a chance at feeling good.
In other words: Just. Get. Started.
At first, the gains often come quickly and linearly. You add weight to the bar each gym session. You watch your mile time go down, your distance run go up. You swiftly advance to the next level on Duolingo. You are in the honeymoon phase of a new relationship. But eventually, the rate of progress—and the novelty and stimulation and excitement that accompany it—flattens out. At this point, you need to stop relying on motivation and start relying on consistency.
Your mindset must shift from romanticism to laying bricks. The benefits are less about immediate gratification and hedonic pleasure, and more about deep satisfaction and lasting fulfillment. You need to master the art of showing up.
One of the biggest traps (if not the biggest) is carrying the wrong expectation of how long it takes and how consistent you must be to begin approaching your potential. So much of success comes down to not stopping. This doesn’t mean you never adjust. (You do.) It doesn’t mean you never take days off. (You better.) But it does mean that you have to play the long game.
It’s true for athletes, writers, doctors, teachers, coaches, and leaders. It’s true in the weight room and in the operating room and in the recording room and in the board room... in pretty much every room.
I’m fortunate to have some natural talent as a writer, and to have realized it. And yet, I got rejected by every journalism school I applied to. My first book was rejected by 25 publishers. I hit the New York Times bestseller list 20 years after my first published piece of writing and 11 years after signing my first book deal. Not because I got lucky. (Though that always plays a role.) Not because I built a large platform. (Though I did.) But because it took that long for me to write my first truly good book.
Anyways, it’s not just me, and it’s not just writing. My story is far from special. Just about every top performer I’ve spoken with has their own version of this story. There are rare exceptions, those of us so innately talented that things move faster—but if you aren’t already one of those rare exceptions, you probably aren’t going to be one.
Which is fine. It’s actually a good thing! Because it means that you can work your way to your goals. And that’s honestly the entire point. Winning and success feel great. It really does. But that feeling fades fast. What lasts is the path. The lessons you learn on it. The people you meet. The skills you build and the confidence you gain.
I’ve interviewed hundreds of elite athletes, artists, and entrepreneurs. They aren’t always motivated. They don’t always wake up ready to crush the day. What they are all great at, however, is showing up. They are all bricklayers.
Showing up isn't something you either have or don't. It's not an inborn trait. Rather, it is a skill that you can learn. Just like any other skill, it gets better with practice.
The best (and most accurate) thing you can say to yourself is the following:
How I feel in the moment doesn’t determine how this will go. Let me show up, get started, and give myself a chance. If I still don’t have it after twenty or thirty minutes, I can always shut it down and try again tomorrow.
Everything worthwhile in life requires effort. Progress always entails at least some resistance and friction. There is no way around it. People love to talk about the peak moments, but you don’t get there without the unglamorous work that nobody sees, without the showing up day in and day out for months, years, and yes, even decades.
Are there other factors of excellence? Absolutely. But none of them matter if you aren’t consistent.
There is no substitute for showing up.
No secret. No supplement. No hack.
You just show up. It is as simple and as hard as that.
"How I feel in the moment doesn't determine how this will go" — I'm keeping that one for the 5 a.m. days, Brad! And 25 publishers and 20 years to the list is the most reassuring paragraph I've read this month. Thank you for showing up here every week.
This is a nice one, Brad! I’ve been thinking a lot about how we can be so devoted to something that we also show up, even when it absolutely sucks. I see a strong connection to feelings of cost (expectancy value cost theory) and when the identity shifts so that you realize you’re just the person who shows up when it’s hard, the cost of showing up is so much lower than if your identity was outcome oriented (aka “I am the Valedictorian!”). I think that’s what helped me in my life. And as you’ve written about, when the process becomes the thing you protect and dedicate too, outcomes follow.