Repetition as a Value
Repetition as a Value
Repetition as a Value was written on July 28, 2023. It is the final of five popular essays from 2023’s Thin Slices, a subscriber-only segment of the Wiley Weekly Newsletter.
Each essay was first available to Wiley subscribers. You can subscribe to the Wiley Subscription for access to all essays here.
Someone very dear to me was recently navigating a deeply challenging experience. As I became her confidant and began giving her advice, I soon thought, “I don’t know what else to say in response. I’m so sorry.”
I decided to call a close friend to ask for advice. I asked her, “What do I say? What do I do?”
Her brilliant advice has not only made me a better, more grounded confidant, but it has also changed the way I approach my business.
She said, “You don’t always have to say something new. You don’t always have to do something new. You can share the same piece of advice over and over again.”
Oftentimes, we feel as though we must come up with something new to say each time someone confides in us. This makes sense to me. We are wired to invent and evolve…invent and evolve.
However, I have learned, in the short amount of time I have applied this advice, that repetition is highly valuable. When someone hears the same piece of advice over and over again, it may be more readily internalized. It is likely we each have a piece of beautiful advice to share, and there is so much value in repeating this single piece.The same is true in reverse. When we are struggling and do not feel understood, we might feel as though we need to explain ourselves, and how we’re feeling, in a new way each time. However, we can describe our struggle the same way, over and over again, until it is truly heard.
Finally, this remains true in business. We often feel as though we must come up with something new each time we sit down at our desks. However, we can simply repeat the already-valuable lesson we’ve shared. We can repeatedly promote the same recipe, workshop, essay, garment, restaurant, author, and more.
Repetition is highly valuable.
Similar to Mood Follows Action, this lesson has also been shared with me by Daphne Javitch of Doing Well. As always, I highly recommend engaging with her wisdom.