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The other day some colleagues were giving me grief for whipping out an emery board and working on my nails during the day. I have an excellent excuse — I’ve recently broken a decades-long habit of biting my fingernails, and one of the ways I’ve done it is to buff them up a little when I feel the urge to gnaw them.

But I don’t think their teasing had so much to do with the sight of a man filing his nails — it was more that the activity brought back suppressed memories of a long-departed colleague who used to clip his TOENAILS in full view of everyone.

That got me thinking: what’s an acceptable level of public grooming? I don’t think anyone objects when a woman pulls out a compact or puts on some lip gloss. And nobody will criticize someone for glancing at their reflection in the window and putting some stray hair back in place.

But what’s going too far? There seems to be unanimity at Fast Horse that toenail clipping is an art best practiced behind closed doors.

Any readers have stories of those who took personal grooming in public too far?

And by the way — I’m not the only man to bring an emery board to work.

Trevor Arnold – Fast Horse’s newest employee from Fast Horse on Vimeo.

Sisyphus never stopped trying.

During my few, action-packed years in advertising I’ve learned many things, some of which, if written, would ensure an immediate decrease in Fast Horse blog readership due to death by boredom. The one thing I’ve learned that I’d like to share is the importance of persistence.

Things in this business don’t often go your way – and without persistence, success can seem impossible. Often ideas that have countless hours of blood, sweat and tears behind them could end up dead if they don’t have a passionate, persistent individual pushing them forward. That passionate person will listen to why the idea might not work, then adapt, make changes and bring it back again and again until it is the spot-on, perfect solution to every problem in the world. Well, maybe not that good, but you get the idea.

Next time you may feel defeated, stay persistent and keep that payoff in mind because as small as it may seem to some, it is going to seem huge to you. I think this woman’s trials and tribulations illustrate this life lesson perfectly.