Have you ever heard the saying “Just showing up is 80% of success?” That may well be true, but we don’t want an 80% successful life or business, do we? We want a fully successful life. So what about that other 20%?

Let’s face it, we all know people who just show up. These are the people we see at networking events or co-workers who show up to their jobs day in and day out. They may even be our own clients. They show up. They make it to work, they make it to their calls and they get out of their houses, but are they wildly successful? Most are not.

Perhaps you are one of these people. You are showing up and you can’t understand why you have not hit the big leagues yet.

You are sending out your newsletter regularly, you show up on social media.  Heck, you are even hitting the gym 5 days a week, but you’re still not where you thought you should be by now. What’s going on?

Maybe you are missing another cornerstone of success, consistency. You must be consistent in order to achieve lasting results, right? So you would think showing up and being consistent would really cover all your bases. Except it doesn’t.

I’m sure you’ve heard this one too.

Q: How do you get to Carnegie Hall?
A: Practice, practice, practice.

While it’s absolutely true, being consistent in your practice is a critical to achieving your goals, practice alone is not enough either just as showing up alone is not enough. If you really want to be successful, you need to be more strategic in your activities. 

You can show up all day, every day, but if you are not engaged in the right activities, you will never be successful. You can go to work and hang out at the water cooler all day. You can go to the gym and barely break a sweat. Even if you are consistent, if you are not pushing yourself, you will stay stagnant. 

I’m going to give you some credit here. It does take extra effort to show up and it does make a difference to be consistent. I have been to and promoted many events that have been poorly attended even though it was clearly in the best interest of the audience to show up. I’ve been to events where fantastic and important information has been given that those who stayed home missed out on. I’ve been to events where I’ve made new and meaningful connections in the form of collaborators and even new clients that I would have missed out on had I skipped.

However, we’re still faced with the extra 20%. That is where the difference is between good and great.

Consistency matters too. If you go hot and heavy in your marketing for 3 months and then slack off, you will see a dip in your business. If you start missing days at the gym, your body will start to soften. Those who are consistent definitely see better results.

But still…that 20%. What’s the special sauce?

Last saying, I promise: Practice does not make perfect, perfect practiced makes perfect. Now before you get all hot and bothered, I am not suggesting you try to be perfect. That is not the point. This point, is however, that you cannot do that same thing all the time and expect different results.

We all have plateaus. You may very well be working really hard in your business, but if you are not getting the results you want, you need to change something. That last 20% matters. You need to ask yourself what else you need to do. What do you need to change? What do you need to improve? What do you need to sacrifice?

If you are making 10 sales calls a week and still not converting leads into clients, you need to change something. Maybe your pricing is off. It could be too high, it could be too low. Maybe your program or product is not relevant to your audience. Maybe your audience is not relevant to your brand! Maybe you stink at sales calls and you need some coaching.

You see, you must be willing to look at the details. You must be willing to dig and then you must be willing to do what needs to be done. If you are not sure what you need, ASK someone. Get feedback from a coach, a colleague, a friend, even your clients.

But don’t fool yourself. When you see someone else who is at the top of their game, it’s not just because they showed up. It’s because they paid attention to last 20%. If you want to join them, you need to do the same.

Your feedback is music to my ears!

What do you think the key to success is?

Post your answers below in the comments or find me on Facebook.

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Heather Poduska is a brand strategist, business coach and opera singer who helps entrepreneurs and small business owners create client attractive brands, polished brand images and brand communication strategies to increase their visibility and impact in the marketplace and grow their businesses.