The Underestimated Power of Showing Up

I have been reflecting a lot on the underestimated power of showing up. If you are anything like me, just showing up has never felt like enough. I have always felt like the value of my presence anywhere is variable; dependent upon my performance once I arrive. I mean, it’s logical, I can see the ways in which this is true. I cannot show up to work and refuse to participate in projects or ignore client requests and expect to be successful. But is it possible that we have taken this too far? Does it make sense for the notion of “being your best” to permeate every part of your life, 24 hours a day?

There just isn’t one single way in which I show up. My energy levels are all over the map, and I typically cannot control that. Sometimes I am not thinking as quickly, and other times I feel like my mind is going a million miles a minute. There are many sides of me. I am sure there are many sides of you, too. So is your contribution less valuable if you are feeling like you aren’t able to be the most polished version of yourself today?

What if being 100% authentic and true to yourself is all that is required–even if that materializes differently every day. Maybe the measuring stick isn’t whether you say the smartest thing or make the most strategic choices….but rather whether you are living completely within the framework of your own values. And since we alone can define our own personal values, only we can judge what we are putting into the world at any given moment. Right?

The more that I think about this idea of whether showing up is “enough”, the more I cannot see a way in which anything else is required. I mean, regardless of whether you feel like the smartest, most energetic, most organized version of yourself or not, you can still be 100% aligned to your values just by being present. This is my hypothesis anyway. And it feels incredibly liberating to even contemplate it. I hope you feel the same. 

Because if showing up were enough, it would be such an enormous weight off of my shoulders. I’ll bet you feel it, too. Deciding my number one priority is to just show up in alignment with my personal values removes the power of everyone around me to decide my worth. It also evaporates that inner critic who is so quick to cut down everything I do and say as being inadequate. It puts the power back in my hands. And that has to be good right?!

Of course I want my clients to have results and I want my partners to reach their goals. I certainly want the people I love to have joy and contentment as well.

But I see now how I have backed myself into a corner because this performance-oriented mindset has led me to two false premises:

False Premise #1: I alone have the power to enable other people to realize their goals

When you put it like that it seems really arrogant and it kind of makes me feel queasy, to be honest. But really, if my “performance” in life is so integral to the success of other people then I must somehow be responsible for how others turn out. And that is just ridiculous, right? I mean, written this way, you can see how it is ridiculous. Even in a career like mine where my focus is entirely on helping people reach their movement goals in the face of pain, there will always be two people in that dynamic. And I can only control one of them (me). The same is true for coaches and other service providers. Sometimes I think we get a little distracted by the “testimonial” pressure that we actually start believing we singlehandedly forged an outcome in someone else’s life. But it just isn’t true. Unless you are out there single handedly discovering the cure for cancer, I can guarantee you that outcomes in this life require the collaboration of multiple individuals. 

False Premise #2: My worth is entirely dependent on whether others see me as having an impact

If we all take a step back, I think many of us can identify a career motivation we have that is related to making the world a better place. We all crave meaning and purpose. We want to believe that when we exit this life, the people and places we interacted with turned out a little bit better as a result. And since we spend so much time working, we probably all have something we do on a daily basis that is connected to the desire for positive impacts in the world. This is a wonderful, noble and profoundly human instinct. However, I would challenge you on one thing (believe me, I am challenging myself as I write this): Is the measurable impact you desire what really matters? Or is it the intention? What if you spend your whole life and career striving to reduce the impact of climate change or increase the literacy of children in your school district, but there is no measurable improvement. Was it all for nought? Would it have been better not to have tried at all? I hope that your gut, like mine, is shouting, “NO!”  Because I cannot imagine living in a world where that was the case.

Your intentions matter regardless of the outcome. Your perseverance has value, even if you struggle or even falter under the strain. We have to keep going. We have to keep dreaming. Without dreams, what would be left? Disappointment, resentment and fear. 

So now, we have to bring this back to you and me and how this affects the way we judge ourselves. I hope by now I have convinced you (along with myself) that showing up really is enough. Bringing with you a mindset that is guided by your values is all that is required to be your own personal success story.

And over time, I do believe, that if you keep showing as your true self, with your passion and intentions, you won’t be able to help but make a difference in the process.