This seems like a really useful, proactive approach to getting over your hangups and learning to just ask for what you want (I've had people ask me for some pretty crazy things a couple of times, and I'm sure they were surprised when I actually said yes).
Given that some of us are less creative than others and aren't particularly interested in repeating the same handful of things mentioned in the article a dozen times each, do any of the fine, good-looking folks of Hacker News any additional suggestions? Would anyone else be interested in undertaking the same challenge?
In college -- we had this friend, let's call him Jason.
Jason, despite average looks and wit would literally talk to any girl who would even make eye contact with him. He'd get right into it, chatting about this and that, using the dumbest pickup lines. His intentions were almost always to just get a number so he wasn't that creepy. He was fearless when it came to walking right up to a girl and just trying to get them to talk to him, no matter how many times they'd ignore him, tease him, etc. A lot of people enjoyed his confidence. He truthfully didn't come across as a jerk or anything, so anyone that would give him a few moments, might end up enjoying at least the conversation, if nothing else.
I remember chatting with him about it after a few nights out, and he just said how quickly he learned to get over rejection after just experiencing it; making the point that it really wasn't THAT bad, almost making a joke out of it. And truth be told, by the end of college, I am pretty convinced he ended up with more numbers in his phone than any of us other guys combined, for whatever that's worth.
Ideas for this are everywhere and I plan to undertake this challenge too. I don't think it requires much creativity at all. Here are some things I thought of off the top of my head:
At Work:
- Ask a random coworker to lunch
- Ask for a raise
- Ask for a random day off
- Ask for a new chair
On the street:
- Ask any girl (or guy, or whatever your preference is) to coffee
- Ask people to take a photo of them doing a specific thing (same each day or change it up but it just can't be a photo of them anywhere doing anything)
- Ask people for a dollar
- Ask a homeless person to borrow a quarter
Other:
I just ran out of ideas. But they're everywhere. I think the problem might be that we have the ideas but don't want them to come out because we're still shy or afraid to even think of a situation where there's a chance of rejection.
Given that some of us are less creative than others and aren't particularly interested in repeating the same handful of things mentioned in the article a dozen times each, do any of the fine, good-looking folks of Hacker News any additional suggestions? Would anyone else be interested in undertaking the same challenge?