Showing Up Makes All The Difference For An Artist

„Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying 'I will try again tomorrow.“

--Mary Anne Radmacher, American author, and artist

This quotation sums up very well what is at stake when I speak of perseverance. This is Because stamina requires courage. Starting anew every day and not being put off by failures are the foundations on which determination is built.

What separates the star from the one-hit-wonder

When we think of successful people, we often believe that they owe their success to unique talents and many happy coincidences.

We are not wrong, because, without talent and a little luck, extraordinary success is difficult. But these two things are necessary, but not enough.

One ingredient is missing, and it is the most important one.

Again and again, we can observe that people suddenly appear in the light of the public who seem to have come out of nowhere. For example, there's this one singer who lands a megahit that plays on all the radio stations for weeks, and we think: Wow, is she good. She has a great career ahead of her.

But then we never hear from her again.

On the other hand, we know bands like the Rolling Stones, who seem to have always been there and who bring every album to the top of the charts.

Do the Stones make better music than the one-hit-wonder singer? Are the Stones more talented, more musical, more brilliant?

I claim that success doesn't depend primarily on whether you are more talented in your field than all your competitors.

If that were the case, very few people would ever have the chance to be successful anywhere.

If success were open only to the most talented, then for decades, we would only hear and read the same names every time we turn on the TV or go on the Internet.

If talent were the guarantee for success, we wouldn't have the stories we all know. There wouldn't be this guy who enchanted everyone at school with his divine guitar playing, who today sits disillusioned at the supermarket checkout and gave up music.

There wouldn't be all those examples of failed talents and misunderstood geniuses who had what it takes to become prominent in their field but still didn't make it.

No, talent and luck alone are by far not enough if you want to be successful.

The essential tool on the road to success is perseverance.

If you achieve a small success and rest on it, you will fall from the summit again. Only if you continue with what brought you the first success will you stay on the mountain and eventually be able to climb higher.

The Stones, Madonna, Stephen King, Seth Godin - all these icons of pop culture differ from their less successful competitors in one thing above all: they have been producing quality work continuously for a long time.

None of them has been given success as a gift. Each one of them would continue unswervingly even after a flop instead of throwing everything away.

Perseverance means not putting success first, but working for that success.

A one-hit-wonder reaches the top of the charts through a combination of talent and luck. But a lack of persistence means that success is not permanent.

The loneliness of the successful

Stephen King's life does not consist mainly of public readings, television interviews, and gala parties. It consists of the lonely hours at his desk, during which he tirelessly puts his stories on paper, day in, day out.

Madonna's everyday life consists mostly of rehearsals, workouts, songwriting, and meetings. Performing in front of thousands of fans is at the very end of the road and is only a fraction of her work.

Perseverance shows in the many hours when there is no one around to watch us. It manifests itself in the willingness to go the extra mile, even though nobody is asking us to. Perseverance is tedious, tiring, monotonous, and without any glamour.

But those who endure the boredom, fatigue, and monotony and still give their best every day will be the ones that others find interesting, inspiring, and original.

Whoever produces something every day is not dependent on one book, one song, or one company being a success. The persistent one can immediately meet every failure with a new attempt.

Those who endure the monotony of lonely effort long enough and even learn to love it are rewarded with extraordinary success.

This success is then anything but boring and monotonous. The victory, which comes at the end of all effort, compensates the persistent one for his or her stamina.

Show up daily or vanish

The most crucial form of persistence is showing up regularly. It is not enough for an author to write every day; he or she must also publish periodically, communicate with fans, and do marketing.

Showing up means being visible to others. Wherever we strive for success, we depend on others to notice us. People must perceive us more often and more regularly than our competitors; otherwise, we will be forgotten.

So we have to be persistent not only in our work but also in talking about our work and making it visible.

As a writer, I sit down at the keyboard every day and write. Then I publish what I have written and promote it. I do that every day, as well. I did it yesterday, do it today, and will do it tomorrow.

I can't expect everyone to remember my name immediately just because they have read an article or book of mine. When the reader has finished a work of mine, there must immediately be a hundred others ready for him or her, because otherwise they will move on to the next author and forget me again.

If this is the first article you read of me, you will have forgotten me again tomorrow. But I keep on writing, and one day you will come across something I wrote again.

You'll probably forget about me again immediately. But someday you'll see an article or a book I wrote, and you'll think, "Wait a minute, I've heard that name somewhere before."

I'm working towards that. It's what you should be working towards if you're an artist. Get into the heads of your audience - again and again, until you have a permanent place in their minds.