Glossary entry

English term or phrase:

80 percent of success is showing up

English answer:

80 percent of success is in the process of arriving to start

Added to glossary by Stephanie Ezrol
Jul 26, 2010 12:23
13 yrs ago
5 viewers *
English term

80 percent of success is showing up

Non-PRO English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature
what is the meaning?thanks in advance
Change log

Jul 30, 2010 09:54: Stephanie Ezrol Created KOG entry

Discussion

Piotr Czyżewski Jul 26, 2010:
Any context? thehessam, the sentence doesn't just stand on its own, does it? Does it refer to a specific situation of showing up somewhere (interview?) or does it sound like a general rule?

@ Stephanie:
The relevant quote could be Thomas Alva Edison's "Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration" - or, possibly, Confucius: "A thousand miles journey begins with a single step."
British Diana Jul 26, 2010:
80:20 rule http://www.gassner.co.il/pareto/

This is an article about the 80:20 rule which refers to the fact that 80% of doing something may not need 80% of the total energy required

Responses

11 mins
Selected

80 percent of success is in the process of arriving to start

I think the quote started with Woody Allen, and it is a variation of an older saying that 90 or so percent of genuis is hard work.

The idea is that to succeed you have to start working on an idea or project, not merely sit around and think or worry, but start -- show up to work on it.

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Note added at 13 mins (2010-07-26 12:36:37 GMT)
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"According to Woody Allen, 80 percent of success is showing up. How someone shows up, how someone is perceived by others, accounts for the other 20 percent."
http://djcoregon.com/news/2010/07/12/showing-up-is-80-percen...

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Note added at 15 mins (2010-07-26 12:38:31 GMT)
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A REFERENCE TO THE ORIGIN OF THE PHRASE:

In the film "Love and Death," comedian Woody Allen coined the phrase: 80 percent of success is showing up. Bill Gates Sr. has taken that phrase to heart and paraphrased it for the title of his new book, "Showing Up for Life." Gates is the father of Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates Jr., whom his family calls Trey.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1279648...

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Note added at 17 mins (2010-07-26 12:41:15 GMT)
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THE OLDER QUOTE ON GENUIS IS FROM THOMAS EDISON:

Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration
Meaning

A saying that extols the benefits of hard work and effort.

Origin

This is probably the most famous line uttered by the inventor Thomas Alva Edison. If further explanation of the meaning is required he provided it by completing the quotation thus:

"I never did anything worth doing by accident, nor did any of my inventions come by accident. They came by work."

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/146600.html
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
+3
10 mins

coming itself is almost a guarantee of success

If you turn up, your success is 80 percent certain. You are very unlikely to fail if you are there.

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Note added at 12 mins (2010-07-26 12:35:26 GMT)
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Context would help, though, as always...
Peer comment(s):

agree Arabic & More : Right - and you definitely will NOT succeed if you do not make an appearance in the first place.
9 mins
Thanks! :)
agree Ildiko Santana
3 hrs
Thanks! :)
agree Tina Vonhof (X)
8 hrs
Thank you! :)
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