How To Leave Them Wanting More
Like Begging, Even
There’s a movie about a laid back dude named Steve who helped other guys attract women. But his advice works in more arenas than the dating game.
In fact, it’s a key to the universe.
“Be desireless. Be excellent. Be gone.” —The Tao of Steve
The philosophy works with everything from selling cars to writing viral articles. In fact, I recently wrote about a lucky day I penned two such articles.
So, I decided to make a little formula based on what I saw working, and one of the most important tips was to leave them wanting more.
Why?
Because life is not all about beginnings and endings, it's about continuing cycles that connect us to each other and every ending to a beginning. If we want those cycles to keep running smoothly, we don't want to overdo it.
Too much of anything sucks.
Nobody wants to be the last guy at the party who has to be asked to leave. You don’t want to be singing songs until someone tells you to shut up. You don’t want to be writing screenplays until plots start to go nowhere. Finish with an Oscar and then write for fun in private. A new genre may emerge (apply this to anything).
One of the most often overlooked powers in this world is to know when to say when. People have no idea the impact this has on others.
And when to say when? When things are going great, when you're at the top of your game, after a great laugh in a conversation, in other words wrap up on a High Point and be gone. Leave graciously, but do leave.
Why? Because others will not only absorb what did transpire more deeply, but they'll look forward to seeing you again, or hearing from you again, because they know you don’t overdo it and instead just give glimpses of worlds they’d love to explore.
A Geisha knows that when you only allow hints of paradise, flashing even a bare wrist while pouring tea can be erotic.
To keep them interested:
- Stick to a singular point, never repeat yourself.
- Don’t overdo details (they ruin everything).
- Keep it exciting or funny (or stay home).
- Let a few words say a lot and then let their imagination spin (flash that wrist while pouring the tea) and be gone.
Thanks to fellow writer Harlow Journey for her commenting on another article which inspired this story.
