The Power of Showing Up (Even When We're Not Sure It Matters)

We make a difference

We make a difference. It’s easy to believe we don’t. We might think that our one voice, one body at a rally, one conversation, one choice doesn’t really matter. That the impact is too small to count.

So we stay home. Not because we don’t care, but because we're not sure it matters. We question whether it’s worth it. We wonder if it’s safe. We tell ourselves someone else will go, someone else will speak, someone else will do something.

But what if that thinking is exactly what keeps things from changing?

What if the real power isn’t in any one person, but in the collective? And the collective only exists when individuals decide to show up.

The power of the collective

I’ve been to many marches and rallies over the years. People might assume their safety is at risk. And yes, like anything, there’s uncertainty. However, in my experience, I have never felt fear. What I have felt is connection. Humanity. People standing side by side, choosing to care about something bigger than themselves.

It’s energizing.

It matters.

Maybe we don’t fully understand what’s at stake. Not really. Not yet.

Sometimes it takes something personal, something that directly impacts our lives, for us to move from awareness to action. That’s human nature. But it’s also what creates gaps. Because by the time something reaches us personally, it has already affected countless others.

So, the question becomes: What pain point do we wait for before we decide to take action?

When something shifts

This isn’t about telling anyone what to think. Some people are comfortable with what’s happening in our country. Some are not. Personally, I’m not.

You may have something stirring inside of you but are still hesitating.

Maybe you’re thinking this doesn’t feel right, but you aren’t sure what to do with that feeling. You might be unintentionally sitting in complacency. Not because you don’t have values, but because you don’t yet see your role in living them out.

At the beginning of this year, I stood in a protest in Minneapolis in below-zero weather. The kind of cold that makes you question your decisions before you even get out of the car. The kind that would have made it easy to stay home. I almost did.

But there was something about being there. Standing in the cold, looking around at tens of thousands of people who made the same choice shifted something in me. It wasn’t just the cause. It was the collective. It was the shared understanding that this mattered enough to be uncomfortable.

You could feel the energy of people choosing to be there, each for their own reasons, but together creating something bigger than any one person.

The ripple effect was not abstract. It extended beyond Minnesota, reaching people we would never meet across cities, states, and countries.

What started as individual decisions to get out of the car, to stand in the cold, to be present became something that reached far beyond that day.

The ripple effect

Image: Sabri Tuzcu

In my book Unfinished, I talk about the ripple effect. Imagine dropping a rock into water. The impact doesn’t stop where the rock hits. It expands outward in rings, reaching far beyond that initial moment. That’s how our lives work. What we say, what we do, and what we choose not to do creates ripples. Not just in our own lives, but in the lives of others, and in the lives of people we will never meet.

Your presence matters in ways you cannot measure.

Your absence does too.

Showing up is being intentional

Showing up doesn’t have to mean attending a protest. It can, but it doesn’t have to. Showing up is less about where you go and more about how you engage. It’s about being intentional instead of passive.

It might look like asking more questions instead of accepting what you’re told. Standing beside those who feel alone or targeted. Choosing not to look away.

When we don’t show up for the collective, it often reflects how we’re showing up for ourselves.

When we are connected to our values, our purpose, and our sense of self, we act. Not perfectly, but intentionally. And when we act, we influence.

Not by force.

But by our presence.

You are already influencing

You don’t have to fix the world. That’s not the point. The point is to recognize that you are already part of it. You are already influencing it every day.

The only question is: how?

If something inside of you has been nudging you, questioning, wondering, pulling at your awareness, consider this your invitation. Not to agree. Not to conform. Not to react. But to think. To reflect. To choose.

And maybe to show up.

Because it’s bigger than you think.

Try this

Take a moment to pause and reflect.

• Where in your life are you feeling a nudge to show up more fully?

• Is there something you’ve been questioning but haven’t explored? A conversation you’ve been avoiding? A situation you’ve chosen to step back from?

• Now ask yourself: What is one small action I can take? Not a perfect action. Not a big action. Just one step.

Showing up doesn’t require certainty. It requires willingness.

And remember, even the smallest step creates a ripple.

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My Mission

I'm on a mission to encourage as many people as possible to live and be their best versions of themselves. I've been on my own journey over the past several years and thought there must be others who have felt like me. Those who experienced self-doubt and let others, things, and roles define them. I discovered I'm not done in my life and realized there are infinite possibilities. So, I wrote my first book with the intention of helping others discover, unleash, and show up as their true selves regardless of the situation, and remove the barriers to fulfillment and possibilities.

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