No, You Won’t Rise to the Occasion

Mary “rising to the occasion”

Hear me out…

We love the idea that when the big moment comes — the presentation, the crisis, the opportunity — we’ll somehow rise to the occasion. Like something inside us will magically switch on and we’ll suddenly become the most capable, courageous, coordinated version of ourselves.

That’s what the movies tell us right? Aliens are taking over the planet - don’t worry! I’ve got this!

But again, HEAR ME OUT…

If you put me in a baseball game and told me to swing at a 70‑mph pitch, I would not “rise.” I would duck!

I love being on stage. However, if someone put me on a stage, sat me down at a piano and handed me the sheet music for Gaspard de la Nuit (fancy hard piano music), I would NOT rise to the occasion. I would freeze - or maybe slowly slink off the stage.

Not because I’m weak or unmotivated, but because my body has zero training for that moment. I think I have played softball like once and my rendition of “Chariots of Fire” just won’t cut it for a piano piece that “feels like solving math while sprinting”. My nervous system would choose survival over heroics every time.

We don’t rise to the occasion. We rise to our training.

When life throws something unexpected at us, we don’t default to our highest aspirations. We default to our habits, our practice, our reps, our internalized patterns. This is why I tell clients that it is in our PRACTICE that allows us to RESPOND to the occasion.

Let’s throw in some strengths talk in the mix.

When we intentionally strengthen our natural talents — the things we’re already wired to do well — we’re not just “getting better” at something. We’re building the exact internal patterns we’ll fall back on when things get hard, fast, or unfamiliar.

If you’ve practiced positivity, you’ll reach for positivity. If you’ve practiced empathy, you’ll respond with empathy. If you’ve practiced consistency you’ll default to those consistent patterns.

Your strengths become your training.

And in moments of pressure, your body and brain will reach for what you’ve strengthened — not what you wish you had strengthened.

That’s not discouraging. It’s empowering.

It means your future “occasion” isn’t a test of your worth. It’s a reflection of your preparation.

It means you don’t have to wait for a big moment to become who you want to be. You build that person in the small moments — the reps, the choices, the thoughts, the boundaries you practice, the conversations you rehearse, the strengths you intentionally develop.

So no, you won’t rise to the occasion.

But you will rise to your training. And when your training is built on your strengths, you rise as the most grounded, capable, REAL version of you.

And that means today — not someday — is where the real work happens.

Thanks for hearing me out. Until next time!

~Your Strengths Coach -- Mary