A reminder to keep showing up

It's 2005 in Sinchon, South Korea, and a woman in her mid-sixties goes to get her driver’s license.

She flunks the written exam.

Hardly newsworthy. Except for the fact that this plucky widow resolves I will not stop taking that test until I pass it. 

(Can you tell Cha Sa-soo is D-O-N-E with wasting hours every day waiting on buses?)

If we let an x represent each (unsuccessful) attempt Ms. Cha makes to get her license, here’s a snapshot of her next three years:

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

(I'll save you the trouble. That's more than 700 failed tests, at $5 a pop).

Ms. Cha is undaunted. Or, to hear her son tell it, “stubborn.”

By now, word is spreading about the cheerful woman who is obsessed with getting a driver's license. 

The nearby Jeonbuk Driving School offers assistance. And news crews start documenting the twice-a-week testing efforts of the tenacious Ms. Cha. 

On and on it goes...

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x !

Until—on her 960th attempt—Ms. Cha PASSES!

This triggers a national celebration.

South Korea's leading carmaker, the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group, awards Ms. Cha a new vehicle valued at almost $17,000!

And her patient driving school instructors are over the moon. One of them admits, “We didn’t have the guts to tell her to quit because she kept showing up.”

She kept showing up.

THAT, my friend, is the unsophisticated superpower we what we really want to do is scream, “That’s it. No more. I’m OUT!”

Keep showing up.

Such perseverance is how a tiny-but-tough South Korean widow got her driver’s license.

It’s how Thomas Edison figured out the light bulb.

And it’s how you will…do what?

What’s the business goal that eating your lunch? What’s the project you’re ready to abandon because nothing you try ever seems to work?

Whatever it is, I'm thinking Ms. Cha would tell you, “Hey, don’t GIVE up. SHOW up…try, try again.”

• Keep going with that podcast (even though you now have almost as many episodes as subscribers).

• Send another marketing email to your list (because, hey, you never know).

• Go looking again for that business space you need (even though you feel like you’ve already seen every square foot of every building within a 10-mile radius).

• Interview another candidate for that key position you can’t seem to fill.

Or, maybe you’re on the other side of that equation. You’re the one who has applied for 67 job openings, and you have zero, nada, zilch to show for your efforts.

Know what that means? That (a) you are relentless and (b) it’s time to open your laptop, do another internet search, and send out résumé number 68.

And if nothing happens? 

Tomorrow you get to show up again.