Ask your barista for a 10% discount and don't say anything else

I’m rereading Million Dollar Weekend by Noah Kagan (2024) because I found myself reverting to my default settings, failing to take any action to achieve my goals.

The first time I read it, I kinda just skimmed through it because I wanted to just take the main points and move on. In true Grant-is-too-scared-to-talk-to-people fashion, I used it as an excuse to avoid the prescribed exercises. If I was just skimming through it, then I didn’t really have to do everything the book was telling me to do.

If you’re also a procrastinator, then you’re familiar with the “inflection point”. It’s that moment where the self-inflicted guilt and shame overpower your passiveness, forcing you to spring into action.

Chapter 2’s exercise is called “The Coffee Challenge”:

Go to any coffee shop or anyplace in person. Make a simple purchase and ask for 10 percent off. Don’t say anything else. The whole point is for you to feel uncomfortable. Commit to doing this today.

Every single person who completes this challenge always posts how beneficial it is for their lives. I want that to be the same for you.

I’m writing this from a coffee shop right now, and I got way better than 10%!

Putting it to practice

I hit the barista with the question. She goes, “umm…” Her coworker looks at me, then at her. At this point, I’d been staring for the longest 10 seconds ever just waiting for her to say no.

Trying this was stupid. All I’m gonna do is make them uncomfortable and make me look like I’m shamelessly cheap.

She asks, “uh, do you work at the shopping center?”

“No.”

“Hmm.”

After 5 more agonizing seconds, I explain myself to her.

“It’s okay, you were supposed to say no! I was just trying out this exercise from this business book I’m reading.”

“Oh, okay! You know, I’d give everyone discounts if I could.”

“Haha, yeah no, I get it. Sorry, I didn’t mean to make it awkward.”

“…Actually, your chocolate croissant is on me. That’s a way better deal than 10%!”

I ended up getting over 46% off!

Staying obsessed with action

The book is all about becoming comfortable with the fear of rejection. It teaches you to reframe rejection as something desirable, something you should collect. What’s the worst that can happen? If you’re like me, then you’d have a million answers to that question. According to the book, the worst is literally “no”.

The exercise was designed so that somebody would say no to you. Instead, I got an insane deal.

I thought that this exercise was just some type of self-help cheese to make readers feel good about themselves. Now I’m about to go full cheese and do all the other exercises in the book.

I’m just now realizing how much untapped power there is in asking. It’s worldview-breaking to me that it’s okay (and likely extremely effective!) to ask for the things you want, no matter how unreasonable they are. All I have to do now is keep asking for more.

Update: One week later

The same barista was there. I order an americano and say, “I’m not gonna ask for a discount this time!” We laugh it off. Ten minutes later, she calls me over.

“Did you want a pastry? We’re throwing them out anyway.”

“Sure, if you guys are offering it! How much for the chocolate croissant?”

“That’s why I called you! ’Cause we’re throwing them out anyway.”

I asked for a 10% discount, and I ended up getting two $6 chocolate croissants for free. If we pretend that I originally got two croissants last week, this results in a whopping 86% discount!

Final update: I got a free bag of beans too! They were swapping it out for a different product, but that saves me another $25! ✻