Get up! Get Dressed and Show Up!

The life of a career professional comes with its fair share of challenges! To stay ahead of the game, I try to live by one simple rule regardless of how I am feeling or what’s going on in my fast-paced life. “Get Up! Get Dressed and Show Up”. That’s right! And on the days that I am faced with my greatest challenges or even feeling at my lowest, I make a conscious effort to get even more dressed up!

Ultimately, this personal mantra is responsible for my accomplishments over the years. You see, this behavior and mindset breeds consistency and goes a long way towards shaping your personal brand. Without consistency, it is really hard to positively influence others or drive any real significant change.

Some days, masked behind my fancy suit, make up and beaming smile, I am struggling to make it through the day for one reason or the other. But guess what, very few people can ever tell. Over the years, many persons have asked me, how do you do it? First of all, let me say upfront that I am not a fake nor is my preferred disposition a pretense. I have learnt from early that in order to make any real progress in this life, you have to show up! This means being prepared at all times for whatever comes your way; the planned, the impromptu and the unexpected. Whether it be a business meeting or pursuing personal enveadours, it will be difficult to have any real impact unless you show up ready to apply yourself. From my observation, there are many people who want change, yet are not willing to take the most simple step of showing up.

“How else do you claim what is yours or make the necessary steps to achieve your goals if you do not show up?”

I somehow managed to convince myself that if I didn’t always show up that someone would claim what was rightfully mine. This mindset really forces you to push yourself day in and day out; even on the days when you feel like you have already reached your limit. For me, the ultimate test is sustaining this approach when I am not operating at my physical best. Ironically, and at times to my own detriment, I have mastered the art of masking the pain, followed by a lightning bolt crash at the end of my work day. This remains unexplainable to my family up to this day so I can only rationalise this gift by accepting that I am a child of God.

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Unless you are born into money or as the older folk say “with a gold spoon in your mouth”, success only comes when you get up and go! It is great to dream but unless those dreams turn into goals with solid plans to support the journey, along with a few genuine supporters, you are very likely to go off track.

Honestly, when I look back at my life, I don’t think many people expected me to excel to this level. I was never considered a bright spark yet I knew I was steady so never really focused on naysayers. As I moved through my twenties, I became laser focused on the goals I set for my life and thankfully, I always had my mum in my corner to snap me back into reality when I thought it was okay to wonder off or allow distractions.

Bringing your best game everyday calls for a high degree of commitment, and I don’t necessarily mean commitment to the job, school or other pursuits; moreso, commitment to “self-improvement”.

When you reach the stage in your life where you are certain of what you want to accomplish, “commitment” and “consistency” must be your default position. Forming the habit of “getting up, getting dressed and showing up” helps to foster these important qualities, which in turn build that much needed foundation to support any professional journey you decide to embark on. So what will be your next move?