The Art Of Showing Up

When I started in law enforcement almost 20 years ago, I didn’t think that I would end up being a world-renowned tactical expert and a multi-millionaire to boot. As it turns out, I was right.

But there’s still time. I just need to keep showing up.

Raw Talent vs. Hard Work

I’m not Jocko Willink, Tim Kennedy, Jack Carr, or Robert O’Neill, and that’s okay. (And I’m fairly confident that they are okay with not being me). Those guys have their stories and I have mine. They are all gifted individuals, but more importantly, they put in the work day after day, year after year, to get where they are today. And therein lies the difference between me and them.

Though you may not agree with Stephen King’s politics or his world view, there’s no denying his success as a writer. He’s quoted as saying, “Talent is as common as table salt. The difference between a talented person and a successful one is a lot of hard work.” Talent alone will only get you so far. It’s like having a hot rod with a full tank of gas. You’ll look good and blow other people’s doors off in the beginning, but when the tank is empty, that’s as far as you’re going to get.

Good News

Leadership expert John Maxwell said, “It doesn’t matter how talented you are. It doesn’t matter how many opportunities you receive. If you want to grow, consistency is key.” Consistency is the art of showing up.

That’s good news for me because I am not the most talented, best looking (hard to believe), smartest, fastest, or strongest person to ever grace a police department with my presence. I’m not the best husband and father despite what my coffee mug might tell you. When I was born in the humble recesses of my childhood home, the midwife didn’t tell my parents, “Congratulations, it’s a leader!” Not even close. But I was blessed with a functional mind, some level of intellect, an able body, a good home, great parents, and a strong work ethic that I learned from my dad. I had some tools to work with if I would just do the work.

The Two Minute Rule

I didn’t start from zero, but I started from where I started, and so did you. There’s been no shortage of mistakes and squandered opportunities on my part over the years, to be sure. Like me, you’ve probably fallen short a time or twelve. You might have a massive amount of talent and no work ethic or a massive amount of work ethic and no talent, or you might be somewhere in between. The key to get where you want to go is to just keep showing up.

Showing up is a habit, and like all habits, they are learned, whether on purpose or by default. Good habits don’t often happen by accident, they take intention and discipline. One guy who knows a ton about habits is best-selling author James Clear. In his book Atomic Habits he talks about the Two Minute Rule, which is all about mastering the art of showing up. The Two Minute Rule is taking the thing you want to do, but can never seem to stick with, and breaking down to something small that you can complete in two minutes. “Run three miles” becomes “Tie my running shoes.” “Read a book” becomes “Read one page.”¹ Doing that one tiny task is not the point. The point is to do the small things over and over to build the discipline that will help you master the art of showing up.

Be a Professional

He goes on to write, “I can guarantee that if you manage to start a habit and keep sticking to it, there will be days when you feel like quitting.When you start a business, there will be days when you don’t feel like showing up. When you’re at the gym, there will be sets that you don’t feel like finishing. When it’s time to write, there will be days that you don’t feel like typing. But stepping up when it’s annoying or painful or draining to do so, that’s what makes the difference between a professional and an amateur. Professionals stick to the schedule; amateurs let life get in the way.”²

Stick with it. Do just one more — one more push-up, one more therapy session, one more shift, one more dollar saved. Read one more page, help one more person, forgive one more time, run one more lap, learn one more thing, try one more idea, write one more blog, record one more video. You never know which one more will be the one the tips the scales and take you from where you are to where you want to go.

It’s not about perfection, it’s about persistence. Don’t quit. Keep showing up.

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• What’s the thing you want to do but can’t seem to stick with?
• How can you break it down to its most basic part and apply the Two Minute Rule?
• Are you thinking like an amateur or a professional?
• Is perfection getting in the way of persistence?

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– It must be a firsthand account
– True
– Have a lesson, principle, or tactic to apply
– Cleaned of names, dates, and places
– Include your call sign

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¹James Clear, Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones (New York: Avery, 2018), 162-163.

²James Clear, Atomic Habits, 236.