"The Power of Showing Up"

The Power of Showing Up: The Simple Habit That Transforms Goals into Reality

For most of his life, Omar believed that success belonged only to the talented, the brilliant, or the lucky. He was none of those—at least, that’s what he told himself. A 32-year-old office assistant in a small logistics firm, Omar's life was built on routines. He woke up, went to work, returned home, scrolled his phone, and went to sleep. Deep inside, though, he dreamed of becoming a writer.

Every evening, as he walked past the local bookstore, he’d glance at the display of bestsellers and imagine his name printed on the cover of one of them. But dreams, he thought, were for people who had something special. He didn't.

One rainy Thursday, a podcast episode changed everything.

The speaker, a well-known author, said something that struck Omar like a lightning bolt:

"You don’t have to be great. You just have to show up—every single day."

That night, Omar dusted off the old notebook he had tucked away years ago and wrote just one sentence.

The next day, he wrote two.

And the next day, five.

There were no brilliant ideas or poetic lines. His grammar was clumsy, and his handwriting messy. But he kept showing up.

At first, he wrote during lunch breaks—fifteen minutes of scribbling between sandwich bites. Then he started waking up thirty minutes earlier to write before work. He stopped watching TV at night and gave that time to his notebook instead.

Days turned into weeks. Weeks into months.

Most days, the words didn’t flow easily. Some days he didn’t feel like writing at all. But he had made a silent promise to himself: just show up. Even if it meant writing one bad sentence. Even if it meant sitting in front of the page doing nothing for half an hour. Just show up.

One day, his colleague Sana noticed the notebook. “What’s that?” she asked.

“Just... some writing I’m doing,” Omar mumbled, shyly.

She smiled, “Can I read something?”

Terrified, Omar handed her a few pages.

The next morning, she returned the pages with a sticky note: “You have a voice. Don’t stop.”

That small encouragement sparked something in Omar. He started typing his work on his old laptop, editing it bit by bit. He read books about writing, watched interviews with authors, joined online communities, and even took a free writing course.

A year passed.

Then, one day, he submitted a short story to a local magazine. He didn’t tell anyone, convinced they’d reject it. Weeks later, he received an email: “Congratulations, we’d love to publish your story in our next issue.”

Omar stared at the screen, heart pounding. He had actually done it.

That story was the beginning. Over the next two years, Omar published several short stories and built a small following online. Eventually, he compiled his favorite pieces into a manuscript and submitted it to publishers. After many rejections, one small publisher offered him a deal.

On the day his book launched, Omar stood at the very bookstore he had walked past for years. In the front window, among the bestsellers, stood his book—“The Power of Showing Up.”

A young man entered the store and recognized Omar from the local news. “I want to be a writer,” he said, nervously. “But I don’t think I have what it takes.”

Omar smiled gently and said the only advice he knew to be true:

“You don’t have to be great to start. Just show up. Every day. Even when you don’t feel like it. That’s how the impossible becomes real.”

Moral of the Story:

Success doesn’t demand brilliance, luck, or perfection. It demands presence. It demands commitment. The simple act of showing up—consistently, patiently—can turn a dream into reality. Just like Omar, you don’t need to have all the answers. You only need to begin… and keep going.