Penny Pearlman on the Importance of Showing Up

For the past two years, I've been watching my dear friend Penny Pearlman conceive, gestate and birth her first book: Pretty Smart: Lessons from Our Miss Americas.

After traveling all across the country interviewing 22 former Miss Americas (including Phyllis George and Gretchen Carlson of Fox & Friends), Penny has much wisdom to share about going for a dream. In a future posting, I'll tell her wonderful story in greater depth, but here's a quick taste from her own blog:

Earlier this week I gave a talk before a group called the Passion Project here in Connecticut. Each month the moderator (my dear friend and fellow author, Prill Boyle) invites a woman to share her journey and her passion.

As I thought about what I would say and listed the seminal moments in my life, I realized that the thread that ran through my various travels towards achievement, around obstacles and through my own self doubts is that I showed up. I showed up when opportunity presented itself. I showed up when I was looking for a new path. I showed up even though my knees were quaking.


And more than showing up, when you’re just a face in the crowd, I raised my hand and said, “here I am” to that opportunity, to facing adversity, to struggling with my own limiting beliefs.

There is no secret to fulfilling a passion or a dream. The ingredients are the same, though the mix may be different for each of us. Persistence, discipline, focus, courage and vision are the drivers in our soul that keep us moving forward.

More important than saying to no to distractions, other’s negative opinions or potential barriers, is saying YES! to our dreams. When you show up and raise your hands, your are saying Yes to yourself. There is no more powerful engine of success than that.

To read more about Penny, order her book, and/or access her blog, visit pennypearlman.com.