The best investment in the world

It’s a repetitious theme, but it’s the daily practice of good habits that produce quality outcomes.

In discussing his book, Bill Gates Snr said (emphasis added):

‘There is one lessonI've learned over the years as a father, lawyer, activist, and citizen which stands above all the others that I hope to convey in these pages. It is simply this: We are all in this life together and we need each other. Showing Up for Life. Eighty percent of success is showing up.’

Being there. Reliability. Dependability. Knowing you can be counted on.

Why do I show up so much? Well, I suppose there are a lot of reasons.

In the book he expands on why he ‘shows up’ and how it’s influenced his family (emphasis added):

‘I show up because I care about a cause. Or because I care about the person who asked me to show up. And maybe sometimes I show up because it irritates me when other people don’t show up.

‘My obsessive showing up has become a joke among my children. Still, I notice they’ve picked up the habit. And frankly, that’s what happened to me.

‘I started showing up because as far back as I can remember I watched other people I admired showing up.’

Values are caught. After watching the actions of others, he developed the habit of ‘showing up’. Which in turn has influenced his own family.

He went on to say:

‘My parents, on a scale of one to ten, were nines at showing up. My dad was somebody people knew they could count on. If there was money to be raised for a good cause, my dad was always willing to call on people and ask them to give a few dollars. He had led the effort to have a new park built in town. I read about it in an old newspaper long after he died. I had not known about it, but it didn’t surprise me.