Again and again and again

Fractals make repetition beautiful. (Image by socialtrendspr0)

I am not a huge Myers-Briggs aficionado, but one of the things that has stuck with me about NT personality types (of which I am one) is that they don’t like repeating themselves.

“I said ‘I love you’ last week! What, you want me to say it again?”

Actually, I have no problem throwing out “I love yous” like the candy that was tossed all over the street at The Big Parade at the Maine Lobster Festival last weekend. But the idea of having to repeat instructions, directions, and marketing messages used to bother me. Sometimes, it felt like a waste of time, and sometimes I figured that I must not have done it right in the first place. And, especially when it came to marketing messages, I didn’t want to bother people.

What I came to realize as a result of The Marketing Seminar and noticing my own experience of receiving various instructions, directions, and messages is that frequent repetition is necessary and even helpful.

In fact, the newer an idea is to me, the more repetition will be needed for me to even notice it, the way my baby nephew didn’t quite perceive the animals at the zoo.

I’ve had to remember that it’s noisy out there, and whatever I’m sharing is a whisper. It needs to be amplified by successive reinforcements.

Obviously, I don’t mean that I spam people or just keep pounding the same message into the ground. I’m just saying that if I send an email, I don’t expect that someone will necessarily read it. And if they read it, I don’t expect that they will comprehend it. And if they comprehend it, I don’t expect that they will remember it. And if they remember it, I don’t expect that they will act on it.

This stance has made it a lot less frustrating to share logistical information about upcoming recitals with the student body at my music school. It’s made me a more compassionate teacher of music, math, and marketing.

And it’s made it a lot easier to share my ideas in blog posts like this one, knowing that I can keep going over the same concepts in different ways and I don’t have to invent a completely new message every time.

If something matters, it needs to get repeated again and again and again. This is how we get exposed to new ideas. This is how we gain new skills and information, and this is how we deepen our understanding. This is how we learn and grow.

Your friends, family, fans, and followers are not universally paying incredibly close attention to everything you launch, share, or say. So you have to repeat things enough to give people a chance to even hear them.

That said, maybe there are a few who actually do receive everything you put out there. Maybe they eagerly anticipate it. And these ones, I promise, will not mind a little repetition. They will appreciate it. Maybe they even engage in repetition on purpose, like re-watching a video you created or re-reading a letter you sent them.

Therefore, when you remind people of things, reiterate information, or share an idea that you’ve shared before, you are likely not bothering them. For some, it will be the first time they’re truly hearing the message. For others, it will be a useful refresher. And for others, it will give them an opportunity for a deep dive.

And if they are annoyed — fine. They can choose what to do about that. And you can pay attention to the feedback and adjust.

I no longer get irritated at having to repeat myself. These days, I choose to repeat myself, sharing the same concepts in different ways as often as I can. I’ll be here again tomorrow to do it some more. See you then.