George Kao explains why showing up consistently matters more than getting perfect results. He argues that a strict schedule for work, paired with flexibility about outcomes, builds the habit and momentum that actually drive long-term progress.
One of my clients asked me how I can stick to such a rigid schedule of work and yet remain flexible and open in how I do my work. When I meet with them, I seem relaxed and focused and calm and joyful. When I do my work, I just do it without stress. So in this video I'll just share with you kind of my thinking around it. I think of it as this. I am strict with with when I show up to work, but I am lenient with what ends up happening during that work period. I focus more on the process of the work, bringing as much joyful, calm focus to the work as I can, not worried about the perfection of the results. And I think what happens is a lot of people have an opposite. They are strict in their mind about what the results must be, which then stresses them out and makes them not want to show up to do the work. And then they are lenient with themselves on whether they show up at all. They might say, well, I just don't feel inspired right now to do my videos. I just don't feel like I should be doing my writing right now. It's just not the optimal conditions. And that I think is what I flipped upside down so that I'm able to get so much work output done and still remain relatively stress free in my life and in my work. So let me explain that one more time. I am strict about showing up and then I am compassionate with myself, lenient about what happens during that time as I show up and do the work. So, you know, right now, for example, I'm visiting my parents and I'm at a park that I'm not familiar with. There are kids playing right here. It's kind of loud as you could probably hear. There's screaming noises. It's not the optimal time for me to be doing my videos, but. But I basically have a schedule of doing my videos on Friday afternoons for the coming week. I do three videos on Friday afternoons. I record them and then I publish them Monday, Wednesday, Friday, the following week. You know, otherwise I have to try to figure out a time to do it on Saturday or Sunday. And I'm just kind of used to this schedule now. No matter what, I'm not feeling optimal right now. I'm a little bit tired. You know, there's noises here. It's not optimal. But I show up and I do the work and I'm self compassionate about what the results are. You are watching the results right now. The lighting isn't optimal. You know, I've got shadows on my face there's a lot of things that are not optimal. But I show up and I do the work, I'm lenient with the results and I focus on how am I being right now, that's more important. Am I bringing more joyful, calm focus to it? And if I am, that's what I call success. I don't care how many views this video gets, you know, etc. Etc. Etc. But I know that if I keep showing up right and if I keep bringing focus to the process of how I'm showing up, then I will have longevity in doing the work. I will have sustainability to be able to keep doing it consistently. And that's what builds my skills the most and that's what builds my audience as well. Because they can see that I'm consistent and reliable and they perhaps will get inspired by that and they will continue to be, you know, watching my videos, I'll have more videos out there for people to find. And also because I show up in such a way, people can sense maybe the joyful calm and they're attracted to that, etc. So it's really about showing up consistently and then instead of being perfectionistic about one particular result that you're showing up for, look at the perfection of the whole process, knowing that if you just keep showing up, you're going to create great results over time. Just don't force yourself to create a great result right now. So be strict about showing up. Focus on the process, how you are being as you do the work. I say, sometimes I say your state is your top priority. How you are being as you do the work is more important than what happens as the result. Be strict about showing up, be self compassionate about the results, but keep showing up consistently and you will create extraordinary results over time. Just let it emerge eventually.
