My closest friendships and two relationships started with a cold email. I love when strangers write to me and I give them my full attention. I also write words of praise to bloggers. A simple heartfelt email goes a long way. An LLM-authored email goes right to spam.
I struggle to apply this openness to real life, where the rejection is a lot more instantaneous and awkward. All the data shows that it works and that failure won’t kill me, but my whole being is trying to stop me.
Do it despite the suck. At some point you grow indifferent to it. The point is not to avoid the discomfort but to make "rejection" feel like a meaningless prick. Like walking on grass with bare feet: yes, sometimes you step on a tiny stick or whatever, but walking in shoes instead would be such a waste of a pleasant experience. :)
That's in line with all the wisdom I've received. A rejection is not a measure of your worth, just the cost of doing business. After all I reject a lot of perfectly fine people for various reasons.
I struggle to apply this openness to real life, where the rejection is a lot more instantaneous and awkward. All the data shows that it works and that failure won’t kill me, but my whole being is trying to stop me.
Any advice?