I have become much less cautious when approaching people and asking their opinion or conception of certain ideas. I used to be nervous and would think that I might not want to be approached by a stranger who starts asking questions about my preferences or ideas, but I've found that it is actually one of the easiest topics to talk to strangers about. Peoples' favorite subjects to talk about are themselves, their opinions, and their successes.
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Talk about a moment or two when you felt like "giving up." What pulled you through? Do you feel like you've developed a tenacious attitude during the past two months? What experience or experiences most contributed to this?
I certainly felt like giving up when I had to interview people about my initial business idea, starting a food cart, but I got through it by setting it a time for interviewing people on my calendar and forcing myself to stick to the time and date that I set. Similarly, when it came to interviewing people over the phone to discuss the home watch technology idea, although I didn't want to talk to people about a product I may be selling in the future, saying to myself that I had to get all my calls done before 5pm made me pick up the phone and struggle through it regardless of how bad it felt. Although the first couple interviews were a bit awkward in both cases, setting the deadline and only giving myself a certain amount of time to do the interviews made me just do it, and I feel more competent/capable now as a result.
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What are three tips you would offer next semester's student about (1) fostering the skills that support tenacity and (2) developing the 'tenacious mindset?
Yes, it can be strange to talk to random people about a business idea/opportunity you are not completely confident about. I don't think any of my ideas thus far have had enough potential for me to feel confident about it, but that's not all that matters. One day if I do have a good idea, I will know the process to go about in order to develop and turn it into a business. I would not have learned/embodied this process without trudging through the assignments even with the ideas I don't have boundless confidence in.
Running with a bad idea can sometime be better than not running with one at all. You already have your current perspective.By moving to a new point in mental space with new information (By running with any idea), you allow yourself to see from two different perspectives. With multiple perspectives you typically make better judgments of goals/ideas.
Read! Information from novels or biographies or newspapers gives ideas and allows you to see the world from many different perspectives. You get to test your own ideas against those of others. You can find business opportunities from patterns of problems that have been unaddressed. You can see patterns of behavior within yourself more objectively and thus can see what areas of yourself you may have to work on, or in other words, you get to develop your personal ideals for self-improvement.
Talking to strangers has always made me nervous as well, so I can fully relate to what you're saying. For some reason I actually get more nervous talking on the phone to them. I think it's comforting when you can see people expressions to what you're saying and conversations just flow a bit better in person, but nonetheless I am hoping one day I will feel more confident talking on the phone. I also agree with the important of reading. I do not read often, but when I do I find that I actually enjoy it and will learn a lot of knew words and I can appreciate different writing styles.
ReplyDeleteI’m used to networking and talking with different people, so I never really felt uncomfortable or weird asking people for their opinions. I feel like you are right though people like talking about themselves, so most people shouldn’t feel weird about this but are. I also like the fact that you aren’t 100% sure what business you want to start or don’t feel as confident about it but you mention how this class gives you the correct tools and way of thinking when an idea does come to you.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like you had a similar experience to me – there are these interviews, and you just don’t want to do them, but then you do them, and it’s a little awkward, but over time, it’s not that bad, and you get better at getting people to talk. Not having what you feel is a “good idea” makes it hard, but I agree, it’s best to just run these things out, and it’s interesting where you end up.
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