“Eighty percent of success is showing up.” — Woody Allen
“Doing the work when no one’s watching. You stop worrying about what people think and start valuing what you believe. When you start measuring your day by effort, not recognition, you begin to feel accomplished without needing to be noticed.” — Jay Shetty
“Keep showing up. 99% of success is just showing up. In fact, most success is just persistence.” — Kevin Kelly, Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I Wish I’d Known Earlier
- Show up, and then show up consistently. Most people don’t fail. They just stop.
- Show up when it’s hard. Show up when it’s messy. Show up when no one’s watching. Show up when you don’t feel like it. Just show up. You can never bet against the person who just keeps showing up.
- ✊🏽 I see you doing the work nobody claps for. That discipline is going to pay you back.
- Those who are willing to work in the dark will eventually shine in the light. The one who can tolerate the most uncertainty is the one who will eventually win.
- Write when nobody’s reading.
- Build when nobody’s watching.
- Train when nobody’s cheering.
Mental toughness is often associated with dramatic efforts to push through the pain, grind it out to the end, and find a way to make it happen—the kind of perseverance needed to cross a finish line.
However, true mental toughness shows up in quieter moments: it’s the discipline to show up when no one is watching, keep your eye on the ball, and do a little bit every day.
On your bad days, you have a choice to make:
- Show up anyway.
- Wait until they see me on a good day.
There’s a magic in showing up on your bad days. Do not skip the days that are easy to skip.
The choice is yours. Choose wisely.
People tell themselves lies to protect their ego. Yesterday I heard one:
“It’s so hard to be successful. So competitive nowadays.”
Is it?
Lots of people want the same things you do — but most of them are unserious.
Imagine 1,000 people who all want what you want. Here’s what your competition actually looks like:
