Why Showing Up is Not Enough

There is an old quote by Woody Allen that goes “ninety percent of success is just showing up.”

That leaves 10% that is dependent on other stuff.   

Every day, millions of Americans get up and show up for work. These Americans do this daily for what is usually 20, 30 or even 40 years. They wake up, shower, get in the car, sit in traffic, arrive at work, then work all day. They then get back in the car, sit in traffic, arrive home, eat, and eventually go to sleep. Only to do this all over again.

Over, and over, and over again.

And while they are doing what they supposed to do (ie. showing up),  not much else can be said about what they are doing. Many of them might tell you that they do what they are supposed to do, take lunch when they are supposed to, and clock out when they are supposed to.

But is just “showing up” enough?

I sat in the parent drop off at the school this morning, and as I watched school employees assist the kids in getting out of the car safely and getting onto campus, I asked myself this SAME question.

I notice things, and I’m not sure if others do – but some things stick out to me more than others.

A few handfuls of school staff were there to assist my kids – they didn’t look excited to be there. In fact, as my kids climbed out of the car, they weren’t welcomed by a bubbly, upbeat & cheery “Good Morning!” or… “Happy HUMP Day – we’re almost at the weekend!”

We’re several weeks into school and I can’t say any of of these handful of staff members have ever said that to my kids … yet. 

Except one of the teachers. This particular teacher is impressionable – there hasn’t been one day that I have rolled through parent drop off and seen this particular individual in a less than stellar mood.  Perhaps he has his bad days – but if he does, you can’t see it.

He is a teacher during the day. But in the pre-school hours, he conducts traffic.  The way that he helps traffic flow smoothly is done with such energy and passion – his smile is HUGE.  It might be early in the day but one look at his body language tells you that he’s motivated – he’s passionate about what he does each morning.

Guess what? He did more than show up.. he’s pumped to be there – and as a result, traffic flows much more smoothly.  

Why is this important?

It’s so much more than showing up for work – no matter how many long 10 hour days you might do, and despite all the wonderful work you accomplish, nobody will seem to care, unless you do it with a passion that makes people pay attention.

Showing up is important. But what you do after you arrive that truly matters.

If you are going to work every day, hoping to do amazing things, but your heart isn’t in it, you’ll never get as far as you would like. You have to put your heart into it, get into a groove, be a step ahead of others, and see a BIGGER picture.

This teacher at my child’s school has obviously put his heart into what he does. Sure, he directs traffic every morning in addition to teaching students, but it’s HOW he directs traffic. 

His personality, his HUGE smile, his body language and his animated persona tell me that he takes his job extremely serious. He is excited to be doing what he’s doing at 8 a.m. – he is PUMPED to see these kids arriving each morning.  His commanding personality tells me that he WANTS to see our kids just as excited as he is.  

You can’t help but leave the school drop off with a little extra energy yourself – as his energy is captivating.

Is that important for kids to see? You bet it is.

Do our kids need to be around that energy? You bet they do.  Kids pick up what they see – and when they get to school and school staff are just there to collect a paycheck, our children aren’t going to “check in” when it comes to learning. 

I’m sure this particular staff member feels indifferent about the hot morning sun, especially in his long sleeve, button up work attire. I’m sure he’s sweating buckets before he even starts the school day – but you wouldn’t know it from looking at his energy. I’m sure he has good and bad days like anyone else.

But you wouldn’t know that from looking at his motivated persona in the parking lot as he directs hundreds upon hundreds of parents each morning to ensure a hiccup-free morning drop off.

All with a huge smile from ear to ear.

Our kids can feel that energy in the morning too – when the teachers working at the school are excited to be there, and excited for the duties they are assigned to do, then our kids will be excited to be at school too.    It’s important for our younger kids to see this too – after all, most of them will be working a job faster than we know, and to be truly successful and make a lasting impression at that job, they’ll need to do more than just clock in.

So how does this pertain to you?

If you have been working at the same job for years and you haven’t gotten anywhere, it might be because you, too, thought that showing up was enough to get you noticed. Or, showing up was enough to get you to the top. It’s not.

It’s like going on a hike – sure, you can show up at the base of the mountain, but if you are not willing to take the steps required to DO the hike, then you are going to realize that nature is not going to do that automatically.

Showing up is important – but if you truly want to be a success and make a lasting impression on those that you work with and work for then it’s your responsibility to put your heart into it.

Make a lasting impression.   

Do the work required to make yourself successful.