This is such great advice, Dennis. How do you deal with the fear of failure or something not being received well? You seem to have so much confidence in sending an unsolicited (at the start) weekly email to many of your colleagues, and I think that I would fear a negative reception too much to go through with doing something like that. Do you face those hurdles, and how do you deal with them? Many thanks again!
This is an amazing question - everyone definitely faces these mental hurdles, but I've found that these fears of failure are almost always in our own heads. People care much less than you think when you're initially starting out, and I figured that by sending entertaining and insightful emails, I'd add something fun to the end of their week. If they didn't like the emails, the delete button was right there.
If you're still struggling with getting started, just do so with people you already know well! I started the email with the managers and fellow interns that I talked to every day, so I knew it'd be well-received. Once I started with them, the ball began rolling and the email list grew beyond anything I was planning for initially. :)
This is such great advice, Dennis. How do you deal with the fear of failure or something not being received well? You seem to have so much confidence in sending an unsolicited (at the start) weekly email to many of your colleagues, and I think that I would fear a negative reception too much to go through with doing something like that. Do you face those hurdles, and how do you deal with them? Many thanks again!
Hey Cooper!
This is an amazing question - everyone definitely faces these mental hurdles, but I've found that these fears of failure are almost always in our own heads. People care much less than you think when you're initially starting out, and I figured that by sending entertaining and insightful emails, I'd add something fun to the end of their week. If they didn't like the emails, the delete button was right there.
If you're still struggling with getting started, just do so with people you already know well! I started the email with the managers and fellow interns that I talked to every day, so I knew it'd be well-received. Once I started with them, the ball began rolling and the email list grew beyond anything I was planning for initially. :)