Way back when, as a newly minted financial advisor, I worked for a national broker dealer whose training program heavily relied on doors.

I spent a week at the corporate headquarters learning how to knock on doors, what to say, and how to say it persuasively.  The goal was to instantly gain the trust of the person answering that door and to turn him/her into a client.

To help make this classroom experience more realistic there was a door in a frame on wheels that we practiced taking turns role playing the “prospect” and the advisor.  We were courteous and pleasant to each other.  Our instructors plied us with praise and encouragement.

Easier said than done in the real world.

It was terrifying.  For the first dozen or so doors each morning, I hyperventilated. Gradually as the day progressed it got a little better. My observation was that people weren’t thrilled to answer their doors, unless, of course, you were selling Girl Scout cookies.

One day I ran into a pair of Mormon missionaries walking the neighborhood.  We compared notes and techniques. They were cheerful in their mission.

There were rude people.  There were lovely elderly ladies who invited me in on hot afternoons and offered me something cold to drink.  There were the sad shut-ins who were desperate to talk.  And then there were folks who eventually became my clients.

Some days were very bad and it took resolve and courage to go back out the next day. I discovered that I could be brave and I could be courteous in the face of bad manners.

Eventually I realized that these doors  symbolized either a barrier or an opportunity.  You could go through your life not doing the scary hard things, essentially avoiding the doors. Or, you could take the risk of pounding on that door and tackling the opportunity on the other side.

Carpe Ostium!