better business blog

Tips and stories to add value to you and your organisation

Turning Up

25 June 2017

I remember reading an article about Usain Bolt and how he was proclaimed as the fastest man in the world, having just won another gold medal with apparent ease.

The article went on to comment that perhaps he wasn’t actually the fastest man in the world, but was the fastest man who had turned up on the day.

I rather liked the exactitude and honesty of the latter statement and it reinforced the point that half the effort in winning the race went into turning up.

As Peter Cook famously observed, in the guise of his alter ego E L Wisty, ‘I could have been a judge, but I never had the latin.’

I’m sure we all know someone who wants to be a writer, an artist, or to have a job like ours …if only they had the talent of J k Rowling, the skill of Van Gogh, or the money to change career. These people sadden me sometimes because I wonder that they don’t really turn up to their own lives.

Most writers and artists start poor and finish poor, but devote their lives to what they love. I started my business 14 years ago with (literally) a biro and a small, cheap book about coaching. I didn’t own a laptop, or a car, or have a golden piggy bank to raid. I started anyway and worked it out as I went along. And I’ve never looked back.

The other week I visited a food festival and ate free sausages (the best kind) and enjoyed visiting stalls and having fun. It struck me that a lot of business colleagues were there too and it was lovely to say hello and enjoy a morsel of social networking.

All I had to do was turn up and the rest took care of itself.

In business, as in life, turning up is one of the essential ingredients of success. We might be tired, or nervous, or wondering if we should be somewhere else and yet if we want to succeed we have to be there on the day.

If we want to be the fastest man in the world we have to turn up to the race. If we want to be the best sausage producer in the area we have to turn up to the food festival. If we don’t ‘have the latin’ we can go to evening classes.

Turning up is an easy choice we can make, so this week what event, or meeting, do you need to turn up to? Opportunity follows those who are there and not those who are absent.

Next week: What’s The Problem With Knees?