We are right in the middle of December holidays, careening toward the end of the year. If thoughts of New Year’s Resolutions haven’t entered your head yet, there is a good chance they are about to. This particular brand of goal-setting can be polarizing, still, whether you engage in setting resolutions, avoiding them, achieving them, cursing them, or breaking them, it’s hard to ignore this part of beginning a year anew. There are countless theories about why resolutions fail and what you need to do to see them through. You could read the following article that way if you want to, especially if you are tied to realizing a specific outcome (i.e., I will lose the extra pounds, I will put my phone away more often, I will call my mom every month, etc.). Or, you could look at it from the point of view of showing up. Engaging. Participating. Being present and alive in the moment. Doing for the sake of doing and seeing where that gets you, what that invites into your life.

“Showing Up” means many things. It means this, too.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this one! Send me any feedback on the article; its relevance to you, to your role, what you liked or didn’t like about it. Feedback on goals and showing up is welcome as well! Have you lived through showing up and creating habits that led you somewhere expected or unexpected? Did you identify a past goal that you’ve set down but want to pick up again? Do you want to share a new routine inspired by this article? I’m here and curious.

Thank you for your time and reflection on this! -Becky

The Simple Power of Showing Up

How small things repeated consistently turn into big things

Reece Robertson, 11/8/18 appearing on The Ascent

“The majority of goals people pursue don’t require innate talent, or working a 12-hour a day — in most cases they lack old-fashion consistency.” -Zdravko Cvijetic

The truth is, the process of success and achieving your wildest dreams is not rocket science. Often it simply requires you show up day after day.When you give your attention to a singular focus day in, day out for a set period of time, no matter how small, it’s inevitable that you’ll get closer to where you want to be. Opportunities will begin to present themselves.

Said author, Ayodeji Awosika,

“When you show up and keep putting your work out there, good things start to happen. You make new connections, people reach out to you, opportunities start to present themselves.”

Here is the simple power of showing up.

You Can’t Be the Noun Without Doing the Verb

“Lots of people want to be the noun without doing the verb. They want the job title without the work.” -Austin Kleon

The world is facing an epidemic right now; that is everyone wants to be successful, yet no one is willing to put in the work to be successful. We have been dumbed down and turned into dopamine and instant gratification seeking drones at our own will. We welcomed instant messaging, Facebook likes, and Netflix at the expense of our dreams and desires. For many, their environment has become so trigger-laden that it seems easier to simply talk about the work, rather than to actually do the work.

“Most people will continue getting high on the dopamine of solely “dreaming” and journaling about their ideal life, without ever doing any meaningful work to make those goals happen.” – Anthony Moore

It’s time that people start realizing you can’t be the noun without doing the verb.

You can’t be a writer, if you don’t write.
You can’t be a cook, if you never cook.
You can’t be an athlete, if you never train.

In what areas of your life do you call yourself the noun without doing the verb? It’s time to get consistent.

How to Become Incredibly Consistent at Anything

“Consistency is a bit like a million dollars. Everyone wants it, everyone knows it will make their life better, but it seems impossible to ever achieve it.” -Anthony Moore

Becoming consistent at anything you want is not as elusive as it seems. You’ll find that for decades, people have simply been trying to form habits in the wrong way. They treat becoming the best version of yourself like something that can happen overnight. They vow to never return to their old ways again. They do everything they can to become the person they want to be. But it’s too much, too soon, and after a few days, they’re back at their old behaviors. The alternative is to start small. Focus on constancy and frequency, rather than intensity and allow the habit to slowly become a natural part of your Being.

As Srinivas Rao once wrote,

“Build the identity of the person you want to become.”

This is preciously how I developed my morning journaling habit. I didn’t force myself to write an entry straight away. Rather, I would get up every morning, write the date in my journal, and then close it again.Once that was a natural part of my morning routine, I began to journal for 15 minutes before getting into my reading and writing and haven’t stopped since.

Start small, learn the routine, and develop a process you can stick to.

In Conclusion

I imagine that if you showed up today, tomorrow, the day after that, and so on, your life would be very different in a year.

You’ll be making more progress.
You’d have more confidence.
You’ll have more joy and satisfaction for life.
You’ll be the noun and be doing the verb.

It starts now. How can you make the verb a natural and seamless part of your daily routine?