Why Showing Up Makes a Difference in Your Life

When my mother died abruptly of cancer when I was only 19, I learned that life is not a dress rehearsal. It really matters that you live your life to the fullest. It matters that you “show up.”

For me “showing up” has included everything from being there for my Mom during her final days; traveling to Uganda with my 9-year-old son and a handful of clients last month to meet people we’ve been supporting from a distance; spending a week learning chess with my kids at camp; as well as ongoing, significant investments in my personal and professional development.

One thing that’s really true about me is that I really want to be there. In fact, my only two regrets in life are when I didn’t show up and later wished I had. In both cases I let my head talk my heart out of taking the leap and making it happen.

The first was a large family reunion in Sun Valley, Idaho. I was very busy at the time in college, and I just didn’t make it happen. All of my cousins got really connected and they’ve stayed connected, and I missed it. Another opportunity like that has never come again.

Another time I didn’t show up was the wedding of a good college friend. Again, I was busy, and I didn’t go. All of my friends who went got really connected, and they’ve continued to take trips every year. And I’ve just never felt like part of that flow.

Both of those regrets highlight the fact that it’s inconvenient to rearrange your life to show up in a certain city at a certain date and time. There’s the cost of the travel, the time off work, house- or petsitters to find, childcare to arrange, and a host of other factors. These may be some of the things that you have to face when you consider coming, for example, to one of our live events.

It’s not easy to rearrange your life, I know. But every year we have people who do it. They do what they have to do to show up, and they transform their lives forever.

And then there are people who say, “I’ll wait until the time is right” or “I’ll wait until I have the money,” when we all know you never really have the extra time or the extra money.

They let the inconvenience conquer their dream. They don’t show up for themselves, and, as a result, they’re right where they were.

Here’s what I’ve learned in my own path:
The most amazing times of my life have always started with my needing to push past inconvenience.