Showing Up (Blog)

[Steve Pavlina]

Use this thread to discuss the following entry from Steve Pavlina's blog:

Showing Up

[Dan.Linehan]

Great post Steve - I especially like "Show up to opportunities"

=)

[elainevdw]

This is just what I needed to hear this week. I just started a jogging program, and I also just got 20 yoga classes, and I'm reaching that point where the motivation starts to shake. It's nice to be able to think, "If I just show up, then sooner or later, I'll wake up and realize I can run 5K/touch my toes/etc."

[Steve Pavlina]

When I started training in Tae Kwon Do many years ago, I was totally inflexible. But after a few years of "showing up," I could do the splits within 4 inches of the ground, kick way above my head, and touch my toes with ease. I used to stick around after class as another student would push down on my back while I had plastic bags on my feet (so they'd slide on the floor when I did the splits). It was torturous but very effective.

It's been 7 years since I trained in TKD though, so now I can't even touch my toes. It will be a long road to rebuild that flexibility, but I know that showing up will eventually get me there.

I worked with one of the black belts in class this evening, and it was inspiring to see just how fast and accurate he was with all his moves.

[dECLAN]

Showing up is one thing; going the distance is quite another.

Most people don't want to get fit or take up a pastime or exercise program or even involve themselves in a relationship because sitting on a couch watching TV is comfortable and well within their little comfort zone.

Those people who succeed in life are not only willing to show up and be fully present but to also break through the pain barrier until it becomes like second nature.

[Bruce Achterberg]

Originally Posted by dECLAN

Showing up is one thing; going the distance is quite another.

Most people don't want to get fit or take up a pastime or exercise program or even involve themselves in a relationship because sitting on a couch watching TV is comfortable and well within their little comfort zone.

Those people who succeed in life are not only willing to show up and be fully present but to also break through the pain barrier until it becomes like second nature.

(This post may be initially addressed to Declan, but I intended the majority of it to be relevant and addressed to everyone.)

I certainly agree with you, Declan. Going the distance (in any activity) and not only breaking through the pain barrier, but also learning to derive pleasure and motivation from the challenge, is what separates someone sitting on a couch watching TV from a champion who is living their dream.

Although, with that said, I definitely think Steve makes a good point with his article. For many people “showing up” consistently can provide pretty good results. But as Steve said in his article, Showing Up:

I’m sure you’ve heard the Woody Allen quote that 80% of success is showing up. While merely showing up — to work, to an audition, to a date, etc. — won’t guarantee success, it’s certainly a prerequisite.

“Showing up” will get you in the door, but to tap into that other 20% -- to move from “pretty good” results to the results of a champion -- one has to be willing to put in the hard work to not only get there, but also surpass any limitations that s/he may encounter. Sadly, many people are quite satisfied with mediocre to “pretty good” results. Some aren’t even willing to believe that they have the potential to be a champion and lack the courage to step up to the challenge, put the doubts and fears from both themselves and others aside, and find out for themselves once and for all.

The good news is that there is no secret to being a champion -- there is only the “hard” work, the exhilarating challenge standing between you and conquest. “But what about natural talent? Aren't some people born gifted?”, I hear you ask. And to that, in an attempt put those questions to rest while trying to keep this post relatively brief, I'll point you in the direction of a very interesting article I read recently: Secrets of greatness: Practice and hard work bring success

[Nancy Lebovitz]

In re getting past the pain barrier: How do you decide which pain is worth enduring vs. which pain is a sign that you're getting pointlessly injured?

I've been making a lot more progress in T'ai Chi since I've realized, not just that the moves aren't supposed to hurt, but that there are ways of doing them more sensibly and/or relaxiing so that I can do them without pain.

I'm very glad that I didn't try to force my knees to point in the same direction as my feet before I realized that I needed to relax my lower back first. My knees and ankles are grateful for my good sense.

[Vanilla]

Originally Posted by Nancy Lebovitz

In re getting past the pain barrier: How do you decide which pain is worth enduring vs. which pain is a sign that you're getting pointlessly injured?

I've been making a lot more progress in T'ai Chi since I've realized, not just that the moves aren't supposed to hurt, but that there are ways of doing them more sensibly and/or relaxiing so that I can do them without pain.

I'm very glad that I didn't try to force my knees to point in the same direction as my feet before I realized that I needed to relax my lower back first. My knees and ankles are grateful for my good sense.

I believe when speaking of pain barrier, it's more in terms of the pain of making sacrifices or breaking old habits...not actual physical pain. By all means, if you're in pain, you should make a sensible decision on whether to continue or not because you don't want to cause permanent damage to your body.

[Dr. Hal]

The right motivation for showing up is crucial for going the distance. Motivations such as "others are doing it" or "its the time of year for resolutions" won't make it. When showing up is embedded in and as manifestation of the need to take care of oneself, people are more liked to go the distance.

[Bender.PUA]

I have been using this trick to learn Salsa. Ussually the class is after work so I am pretty tired,not a good way to learn dancing but I allways show up. It has gotten me mediocre results, but better then average. Showing up for your Standup act will get you embaresement on stage, as I learned recently. You gotta have energy for the Standup, if you thing you will suck you are probabbly right

[Jonathan]

Hey folks,

I'm new here...been reading Steve's blog for a while (and enjoying it, of course!), but this "Showing Up" is one of my favourite posts I've read so far, so just thought I'd join in for a chat about it!

I'm very lucky to not have a problem motivating myself much of the time, so I don't need to convince myself to "just show up". However, I do often tend to get overly involved in projects. I'm a student, and even if a project doesn't count towards a huge amount of my final degree, I'll put a disproportionate amount of effort in, often leading to me stressing myself over not getting everything done.

After reading that post, I think I'm going to try a different attitude this term: just "showing up". Doing what is required, and no more. Going to lectures, putting the effort in while I'm there, but putting it out of my mind for the rest of the time. And I think I'll find that I'll still achieve everything I need to achieve, but without the stress, and with more time for excercise and reading (two activities I love, but struggle to fit in!). Maybe showing up is all that's required in these cases!

Jonathan

[songwriter]

well, in the music business it doesn't matter much if you're good or not.
When I say good, I mean an artist that could sell many records..., so good for the record company...

It's all about being persistent.. even in a crazy way... The Beatles were rejected 200 times by record companies. Yes... many times for every company in England then, lol. EMI signed them when they heard the third demo from them.

And that only happened a long time ago????

nonono.... if you take out singers that are famous for being previously famous or being the wife or the boss of the record company or so, it's still the same.

Lucie Silvas said it took her 10 years of sending demos to release a record. The most successful band in Spain were refused 80 times or so, they say.

And well... not everyone is as successful as that band or Lucie Silvas (not to mention The Beatles :-P :-))... and... anyway... they have been signed!.
How? Maybe only because of that persistence of showing up again and again... It doesn't matter much how do you do it... if you show up.
:-)

But well... as Steve Pavlina or... Paul McCartney would say... there is a fine line between showing up and spamming...
:-D...

[Andrew Brunelle]

Why are we so rooted in success anyway? Success is something that we want so badly, but at times, we often project it into the future, just beyond our grasp. Success is in the here and now. If you want success, create it now and then showing up will be a given.

Working on yourself is not easy, but it is worth it in the long run. It can be a great experience and it also can be painful at times, but keeping in mind success at all times, knowing, feeling deep inside of you, that success is already here, the fact that you've committed to creating success in your life, that is what success is. The mere intention to create success. Knowing the the world will back you up if you go at something with success in mind, always in mind, that is success.

Are we always successful? No. But showing up does allow you to achieve success. It's the most important part of being successful. Live every moment like it's as precious as gold. Enjoy your journey through this wondrous world and allow yourself to be, to exist. Know that you are capable of anything, regardless of what you think your limitations are. You are capable as far as you can imagine.

[stephencp]

This thread made me think of something one of my teachers told me,
"practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect." You can't just show up and expect good results (though you do indeed have to show up...)
For instance, while somewhat trivial, getting a split shouldn't take a long time. Showing up AND practicing correctly will get you there in a couple months. One (of probably several ways) is
The Best Video on Stretching and Flexibility - Secrets of Stretching: Exercises For The Lower Body - DVD
I used this many, many years ago as a young black belt in tae kwon do and it worked great.

Stephen
Power-Book Library: Free personal development, success, inspiration and motivational classics
TSTN | The Success Training Network

[emf]

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle

[kevinw1]

Originally Posted by Jonathan

I'm very lucky to not have a problem motivating myself much of the time, so I don't need to convince myself to "just show up". However, I do often tend to get overly involved in projects. I'm a student, and even if a project doesn't count towards a huge amount of my final degree, I'll put a disproportionate amount of effort in, often leading to me stressing myself over not getting everything done.

Hey Jonathan, you sound very like my daughter. She ended up overloading herself last semester to such an extent that she needed medication for depression and anxiety attacks. Good for you that you realise what you're doing and take steps to change things before you affect your health.

Kevin

[H Verma]

I really was encouraged by the post. Many times we create artificial barriers to growth, usually it is lack of proof from the past of success,taking on too many projects to show up on and many more ways we stop showing up. One of the worst one is that we feel the project is too difficult or that we are too weak to even contemplate it.

The spirit I take from this article is that we can give ourselves the permission to begin and continue. The fact we found the courage to begin and continue turning up in itself means we won over our fears. I think that if we can slow down a little on our expectations and be more patient and kinder with ourselves, especially in the early days then we will enjoy it more.

Happiness may equall results divided by expectations. Often if the expectations are unrealistic then the results appear to be bad.

Thanks
Harish

[TheIronStar]

The article does correctly point to what consistent effort can create when said effort is in a situation wherein it lends itself to generating results.

But the concept of "just showing up" really doesn't cut it in matters like careers; it's quite possible to show up at the job fairs and job boards year after year, only to find nothing, and quite possible to show up at one's job and not truly build a career.

Originally Posted by Bruce Achterberg

[i]
“Showing up” will get you in the door, but to tap into that other 20% -- to move from “pretty good” results to the results of a champion -- one has to be willing to put in the hard work to not only get there, but also surpass any limitations that s/he may encounter. Sadly, many people are quite satisfied with mediocre to “pretty good” results.The good news is that there is no secret to being a champion -- there is only the “hard” work, the exhilarating challenge standing between you and conquest. “But what about natural talent? Aren't some people born gifted?”, I hear you ask. And to that, in an attempt put those questions to rest while trying to keep this post relatively brief, I'll point you in the direction of a very interesting article I read recently: Secrets of greatness: Practice and hard work bring success

No doubt practice and hard work bring success, but we should still note the level of success or the definition of being a champion. Few shooting guards have reached Michael Jordan's degree of ability. There may be many who share his work ethic, but we have yet to find his equal.

Since Mr. Pavlina wrote about martial arts, we might also note that the Kung Fu community has yet to find another Bruce Lee. I'm sure there are other fanatically dedicated Kung Fu practitioners out there.

Then there is the matter on being able to afford the degree of work required to gain said mastery or expertise. I'm certain we could all gain a significant amount of Kempo experience by regularly practicing at a Kempo class (as Mr. Pavlina has demonstrated), but there's the matter of opportunity cost, and also of how those of us who are not martial arts professionals could support such an avocation if taken to the extreme described as being a "champion". For the rest of us who are not willing to take something to that extreme, we'll have to accept being mediocre or at best ordinarily good martial arts practitioners and keep practicing it as a hobby.

[edmamula]

I'm a living testament to the idea that showing up consistently is sometimes enough to reach a goal. I have a black belt in karate. It was never my goal...really it was my father's goal to have two sons with black belts. I do believe I was reluctant to go every time... 2 to 3 times per week for 6 years. Once I actually made it to class, I enjoyed it very much, and gave it my best...and yes, all these years later, my dad is *still* the proud father of two black belt sons.

[pjgat09]

Hi Steve!
It's pretty interesting learning you are training in kempo, because I am too, and I am currently an orange belt too. (I have a belt advancement test on wednesday.)

Sometimes I am sitting at home about an hour before my class thinking "I just don't want to go today", but I always end up going anyways. Its a habit now, like you said. As I progress farther and farther into this martial art it has become more of a habit, but I know I am learning something useful (or if not, getting a good workout).

[Kristoffer]

Originally Posted by Nancy Lebovitz

In re getting past the pain barrier: How do you decide which pain is worth enduring vs. which pain is a sign that you're getting pointlessly injured?

Good question! And I am talking about real physical pain here.

Use your judgement and know your body.

I am doing full contact karate. At times painful yes. Part of the training is to learn to take a beating. I can now take a low kick to the leg and still stand. It's something I learned by sparring a lot. It is not dangerous, just my muscles getting harder.

I also hurt my hand in punching, and here I take a lot more care. Rested, had an X-ray and was a a lot more careful. The hands bones and ligaments are fragile and take a long time to heal. And I did not want a permanent damage.

Well, I could go on, but this is two examples. And I do think that life is a contact sport. No pain, no game.

[Steve Pavlina]

Originally Posted by pjgat09

Hi Steve!
It's pretty interesting learning you are training in kempo, because I am too, and I am currently an orange belt too. (I have a belt advancement test on wednesday.)

I just received my purple belt yesterday, so you're basically at the exact same level as me.

Still a long way to black belt...