Hello everyone welcome back to The Mirror. Last week we took a look at forgiveness. Today we’re deep diving into creating memorable moments. Ideas are adapted from The Power of Moments.
The PRO Club first day
A few years ago, I got my first job as a tennis instructor at a local fitness club (called the PRO Club). Like most companies, it has a new hire orientation that I was forced to go to before starting my actual job.
The first part of it involved me sitting in a conference room with my fellow new hires. I had never attended one of these before but I assumed it would be the standard boring presentations about workplace policy and code of conduct. We started off with a standard icebreaker,
“Let’s go around the room and everyone say your name, position, and favorite drink.”
I think I said something dumb like apple juice just mildly paying attention. Around halfway through the presentation there was a knock on the door and someone came in with a cart of, you guessed it, the exact drinks everyone had stated in the icebreaker. They handed me my apple juice.
I was mildly impressed when I got my apple juice and at the same time I was mad I didn’t say one of the $8-9 dollar health drinks they have on their menu. I still think about this tragedy.
I’ve been fortunate enough to experience multiple first days at different global corporations. Let me tell you, five years later and nothing has even come close to the two dollar apple juice I got on my first day at the PRO Club.
How Disneyland works
There’s a common misconception that every moment has to be great in order to create a great experience. Looking back at an event, people only remember the worst moments, the best moments, and the last moment.
This is easy to verify, looking back at your last Disney trip (or anything similar) what do you remember? Chances are you forgot all the standing in lines, the waiting for food, the hassle of planning the trip. You remember the peaks (exciting rides, seeing the fireworks, etc.) and generally leave with a positive experience. Disneyland is built on making as many peak moments as possible while at the same time becoming exceedingly average in the intermittent periods. As long as nothing was extraordinarily bad, chances are you don’t have any negative experiences to takeaway from Disney.
A small number of extraordinary moments is more memorable than consistent above average experiences.
Sucks vs SUCS
Let’s move into ways we can apply this into our own lives. What happened at the PRO Club was a SUCS event.
“This is a SUCS event: a Superior Unexpected Customer Service event. Transform an event that naturally sucks, into an event that SUCS.” - millionare fastlane
Usually job orientations are god awful. A small act of listening and a $5 drink turned it into something special for everyone. How often does your employer do something special for you?
When events are supposed to suck, this is a golden opportunity to make sure it SUCS. The bar is set so exceedingly low, the smallest of kindnesses is amplified at least 10x. The key to creating memorable moments is to go above and beyond in mundane moments because they have the highest margins for success. And remember it doesn’t have to be a lot, the smallest intention makes a big difference.
I’m not saying that you can’t create memorable experiences on joyous occasions such as graduations or weddings. In general though, most people have positive experiences on their wedding day so nothing extra you do will make it that special. The trick to making impactful experiences is to crush expectations in ordinary (or negative) situations.
One quick weird example
As I’m typing this one example is popping into my head. About two years ago I messaged a friend on his opinion about an idea I had (purposely vague because he’s subscribed to my newsletter :)). The next time I glanced at my phone I had a three page doctoral thesis of a text sitting on the lock screen. I had expected maybe 1-2 sentences. I still remember how positive that felt and from then on I always try to give in depth feedback whenever someone asks for my opinion. It’s the littlest things.
Back to the PRO Club
The PRO Club is unfortunately closed during the pandemic. My dad sent an email to the owner asking how its employees are doing because our entire family loves going there. The owner promptly responded and he said that he is paying all the employees out of pocket to make sure they are financially provided for during these uncertain times (of course he is). For the PRO Club, coronavirus doesn’t suck, it SUCS.
As always, I love to hear your feedback at sahil.substack@gmail.com