The other night, my cat walked into the kitchen, sat down and started mewing. I knew what he wanted. He wanted some catnip. We put it on a scratching pad on the kitchen floor, so if any spills its easy to sweep up. My cat was sitting right where we give them catnip, so there was no doubt what he was begging to be given.

I tried to ignore him. But he was relentless. Until I finally gave in and gave him the catnip.

Then it hit me. He got what he wanted. The squeaky wheel gets the grease… the mewing cat gets the catnip.

When you want something, you have to be relentless in that want. Be the squeaky wheel. Be the mewing cat. If you want something bad enough, you just have to keep trying. Keep asking. Keep working. Keep on keepin’ on.

Now, it does take some finesse. If you want a meeting with your boss to ask for a raise, don’t be the mewing cat and call his office incessantly to get that meeting. You might find yourself with a pink slip instead of a raise in your next paycheck! But you still need to be firm and give the boss plenty of reasons you deserve that raise. Can’t get a meeting? Send an email, or talk to the next person in line that could make that raise happen. Or if you can’t get a raise where you are, start looking for a job that is a step up. Be relentless… but also be smart about it as well. Do what you have to do.

The best way to persuade people is to show them what you want and why its a good thing for you to have it. In a round about way… you make it their idea. (Because, lets face it, no one can make anyone else do something short of torture and blackmail and last I checked that was illegal.)

That mewing cat? I could have just kept ignoring him and walked away. In the end, he persuaded me that the best way to get peace and quiet back in my house was to give him catnip.

Persuasion. That’s one way you can me making it happen this Monday.