A few years back, I worked for a large furniture retailer. Saturday’s were the busiest selling day because, as a rule, both decision makers were present so deals could be finalized. We would start the day with a team meeting, and if the owner was leading the huddle, he would end with the phrase – It’s Showtime!
This expression was meant as a signal for us to leave everything that was going on in our personal life at the door and bring out our best professional selves and start the day.
I had never thought about having different persona’s before my time at the furniture store. It seemed very Jekyll and Hyde. How could I just switch a lever and “click” I’m now super furniture seller?
And yet we actually do this all the time in our daily lives. A small child enters the room and you become all soft voiced and smiley. You bring out your nurturer persona. A meeting with your accountant and you put on your, serious bottom line, financial hat.
There are many parts to you bundled inside and for the most part, the right one comes forward as the circumstance dictates.
But with the “showtime” battle cry, there was an unspoken understanding implied. It was time to bring your best professional self onto the selling field and get in the game.
Like an actor on the movie screen, only an Oscar worthy performance will do.
Now I am not talking about being fake. To be the best you can be in any given situation means to bring your best, authentic self to the fore. It’s really about fully and completely, showing up in life.
If it’s worth doing. It worth doing well.
Athletes know that to perform at their best, they need to bring their “A” game. Artists know that in order to create amazing art, they need to open themselves fully and let the work flow out of them without the filter of doubt. A lawyer knows that in order to serve is client effectively, he has to come to court fully prepared for every legal argument.
“Showtime” is about gathering up from inside yourself, everything you have learned, felt and experienced that is relevant to the situation and bring it forward to create your best effort.
That is a key component of success. When you bring your best self, you bring a focused, present, you.
It does not matter what it is you do in life. There is a time to learn and a time to do. The point is that you do it to the best of your ability when it really matters.
So when it is your time to take the stage that is your life and the spotlight is turned on to you, it’s time to confidently focus in on what you know and give the best performance of your life.
Life is not a rehearsal. It’s showtime folks! So give it all you got.
