The importance of showing up! The BEST thing anyone can do in their daily life!

Woody Allen once said, “80 percent of success in life is just showing up.” I think there’s a lot of truth in that. Also, many people would have heard my best-friend Terri-Karelle talking about that in one of her many videos. It’s something that we talk about all the time…it’s something that is a part of our daily lives and most recently this entire theme came front and centre when Nestle Jamaica won the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce- Large Chamber Award beating out companies like DunnCox and Fontana (a sure fire win in my book with the year that they had).

Before I go on let me just use a plain example to highlight the importance of showing up and the results that we get from just showing up. A number of people make New Year’s resolution to get into better shape and lose some weight etc etc. Come January, the gyms are packed with the newly committed energetic people who are on a mission but, the numbers dwindle by February and even more so by August and come December you only see the regulars who come every day. That’s because most people just stop showing up for one reason or another. So my friends…guess who will have that awesome ‘summer body’ for the new year? The ones that consistently show up!

The same can be said about my team and what we experienced recently at the JCC Awards. We continue to put quality at the forefront of all that we do at Nestle; it's a part of our fabric; Our CSR/CSV initiatives, our Staff Programmes, our Quality Management System, our policies etc. So when we were nominated this year it was a great achievement and we felt great but after seeing the other nominees I didn’t think we stood a chance…especially after winning the previous year. However, we continued to do what we had to do including attending the event and in fine style I might add. We showed up! We didn’t think we were going to win but we showed up as winners nonetheless and it paid off.

 I'm using this as just an example but let me be clear as to my meaning of 'showing up.' When I say “show up,” I don't mean just to come to a physical location. But it means going some place each day and being willing to work. Showing up means coming in with the right attitude; having the dedication, the drive, the passion and that consistent effort that will over time turn into expertise which will eventually yield results.

Showing up means being prepared to put in the work, regardless of outside factors or obstacles, including our own negative self-talk. Thanks for those lessons (Graham Kaufmann).

In one of his books, Malcolm Gladwell (I think Terri mentioned this again) states that it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert in a specific endeavor. Ten thousand hours of practicing one task. That's a mighty number but you don't get there without all the things I spoke of above: passion; drive; dedication.... you don't get to that expert level until you start 'showing up.'

My last point: Showing up isn’t about being selfish! It’s also about supporting others. Buy a ticket to attend an Award show that you know you might not win; purchase that locally made piece from a local artisan that you respect, make a post about a place that you enjoy its offering/service and read the books and articles by people who share the same line of thinking as you/who inspire you. If you expect people to show up for you, you need to show up for people.