“Success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out.”

— Robert Collier

Let me start by asking how many of you believe in this above quote? Even if you have not experienced it yourself, how many of you think that this is actually true? Answer it yourself before reading the rest of the blog.

My Youtube and Instagram are filled with posts which have these big words like consistency, motivation, productivity, life rules, growth rules etc etc etc.

Btw, how my feed looks like this ,if you want to know, you can check my blog on Bloom Scrolling here

Yes, so we all search for these big words in order to find the path for life, in order to learn and grow in life. But does this really help us? The answer is yes but to a very minimal level. Now, motivation gets a lot of credit. It’s glamorized in reels, quoted in captions, and praised in success stories. We’re constantly told that if we feel motivated, everything else will fall into place like discipline, consistency, growth.

But real life doesn’t work like that.

Most meaningful progress doesn’t happen on days when you feel inspired. It happens on days when you don’t feel ready, confident, or enthusiastic but you show up anyway. And that quiet act of showing up? It takes more courage than we give it credit for.

So let's talk more about this little yet powerful act of showing up everyday.

The Myth of Constant Motivation

Somewhere along the way, we started believing that motivation is a prerequisite for action. That before we begin, we must feel confident, feel aligned, feel inspired or ready. But the truth is, motivation is unreliable. It’s emotional. It’s influenced by sleep, stress, mood, feedback, and even the weather. If we wait to feel motivated before we act, we end up delaying the very thing that could create momentum.

Like today, I was not feeling motivated to start my day because it was cold and my frontal cortex asked me to just sleep and not do nothing. Yes, our brain loses motivation so easily. Just an excuse and we are done for the day.

Hence, if I would have relied on motivation today, I wouldn’t have gone out to learn, or wouldn’t have cooked food for my family. Remember, my brain asked me to take rest and do nothing today just because it is cold outside.

So, the most consistent performers at work, in leadership, in personal growth or even housewives aren’t the most motivated people you see. They’re the ones who learned how to move without waiting for motivation.

Showing Up Doesn’t Always Look Impressive

We often imagine “showing up” as something visible and impressive. A breakthrough moment. A win others can applaud. But most of the time, showing up is quiet and almost unnoticeable. It looks like logging in when your mind feels heavier than your to-do list. It looks like doing just enough to stay consistent on days when even that feels hard.

There are days when showing up doesn’t feel productive. Like, I have recently started learning something new. One day, I really got stuck at something and it instantly got me thinking if I am on the right path. I even started questioning if this path was for me or not. The next day, I was not at all motivated to go to the class but I  just showed up. To my surprise, I enjoyed that class. I still did not understand everything that was taught, but to be able to make out what was being taught and to be able to do at least something made my day. From this, I learnt to trust the path that we are on and never miss showing up. Because showing up is always better than doing nothing at all.

There will be days when it doesn’t feel like progress. Days when it feels like you’re simply getting through. Yet those days matter more than we think. Because showing up, especially on the unremarkable days, builds something invisible but powerful trust. Trust in your work. Trust within your team. And most importantly, trust in yourself.

The Quiet Courage No One Talks About

There is a kind of courage that rarely gets named. Not the bold kind. Not the visible kind. But the kind that asks you to stay when leaving would be easier. It is the courage to continue when progress feels painfully slow. To remain committed when effort goes unnoticed and validation is absent. To be present, fully and honestly, on days when quitting feels like relief.

This kind courage doesn’t announce itself. It doesn’t earn applause. It doesn’t translate into milestones.  It lives in ordinary moments like in the decision to try again, in the discipline to remain consistent, in the choice to not abandon what you started.

Here I would also like to Thank Anil Pilania and Anoop Nair to believe in my potential and always giving me mini lessons that no matter what, I must show up everyday and the rest will fall in place. I am grateful for having such people in my life.

And yet, this is the courage that builds resilience.

Especially in careers, where growth is rarely linear, where effort doesn’t always meet immediate recognition, and where the most important work often happens long before anyone is watching.

What we call resilience isn’t built in breakthroughs. It’s built in these quiet moments of endurance when you show up, again and again, without certainty, but with resolve.

Why Consistency Beats Inspiration

In life, consistency doesn’t announce itself. It compounds slowly, quietly, over time. Not the dramatic kind that looks impressive in hindsight, but the steady kind that often feels uneventful while you’re living it. It’s the kind of consistency where you keep learning even when curiosity fades. Where you keep improving even when no one is watching. Where you keep delivering even when you’re unsure of the outcome or yourself.

This is how trust is built not through occasional brilliance, but through reliability. This is how credibility is earned not by being exceptional once, but by being dependable often. This is how leadership begins long before authority is granted or titles are assigned.

Motivation can spark movement. Inspiration can make beginnings feel easier. But when momentum slows and excitement wears thin, showing up is what remains. It’s what carries the work forward when emotion no longer can.

Because in the long run, it’s not intensity that shapes a career/life, it’s the quiet discipline to keep showing up, even when the work feels ordinary.

Showing Up on Ordinary Days Still Counts

Not every day will feel meaningful and that’s something we don’t say often enough. Some days feel repetitive. Some feel uninspiring. Some feel like you’re simply moving through the hours, doing what needs to be done.

And that doesn’t mean you’re falling behind. Because growth isn’t made only of breakthroughs or defining moments. It’s built on ordinary days, the ones where nothing remarkable happens, except that you didn’t quit. The effort you offer on these average days is quieter, but it’s not smaller. It’s what steadies you. It’s what prepares you for the days that will eventually ask more of you.

So if today feels heavy, slow, or uninspired, this is for you.

You don’t need to reinvent your life. You don’t need a new plan or a sudden surge of motivation. You just need to show up. Imperfectly. Quietly. With doubt still present.

Because showing up on the days that feel ordinary or hard is never a wasted effort. It’s proof that even when you don’t feel strong, you are still choosing to continue. And that choice matters more than you realize.

Finally, I’ve come to realise this over time not in one big moment, but across many ordinary days. Motivation comes and goes. Some days it shows up effortlessly. Some days it disappears without warning. And if we tie our growth only to how motivated we feel, we give our emotions too much control over our lives.

But showing up? That is something we choose.

It’s a choice we make on days when we feel capable and on days when we don’t. On days when the path feels clear and on days when it feels confusing. On days when progress is visible and on days when it isn’t. Showing up won’t always feel heroic. Sometimes it will feel mundane. Sometimes tiring. Sometimes pointless. But over time, those small, repeated choices begin to shape something far bigger than motivation ever could. They shape discipline. They shape trust. They shape resilience. And slowly, almost quietly, they shape who we become.

So if all you managed to do today was show up at work, at home, for yourself, know this: That was not weakness. That was not settling. That was courage. And more often than not, that is exactly how real growth begins.

“Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another.”

— Walter Elliot

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