In case you haven’t noticed, there’s a political battle about public restrooms dominating the news.
Set your mind at ease. I’m not gonna weigh-in on that particular potty issue.
But I do have a story to tell, and it involves toilets.
I spend a lotta time at Starbucks. And I often confront a recurring event that annoys the crap outta me (pun intended).
Now. the restrooms at the ‘bucks commonly serve one customer at a time.
So if you try to turn the door handle to enter, and it doesn’t turn, that means it’s locked and somebody’s in there.
Duh.
Well, time and again, I’ll just get into the men’s room to do my thing, and the handle will rattle.
In less than four or five seconds, it’ll rattle again.
A moment later, it’ll rattle a third time.
Get the picture?
I can always tell by the rattle that it’s the same dimbulb, posting himself at the door and persistently jiggling the handle.
He thinks that rattling the door will make me hurry up.
Actually, nonsense like that always convinces me to bide my time.
Sometimes, I consider yelling something sarcastic like, “Hey, there are people trying to sleep in here!”
I never do that, but I do wash my hands real slow. And when I finally emerge, I give the dude the old stink-eye.
OK, this story contains two lessons for business and for life in general.
Here’s the first lesson…
Persistence is a good thing. But mindless persistence just pisses off other people.
And here’s the second…
Persistence can activate a law of attraction that will draw your goals closer to you. But mindless persistence fueled by anxiousness, desperation, and even anger will activate the opposite force, pushing your goals further and further away.
So the next time you think about leaning on your horn at a stop light, or shouting from the back of a line at the ATM, or ratting the door handle, ask yourself, “Will this action prompt the reaction I really desire?”
Chances are, it won’t, and you ought to let it go.
