I was feeling some drama (Sadness? Stress? Overstimulation?) about asking for something professionally. So I scrolled through Seth Godin’s blog for a little reset of perspective.
Other people don’t believe what you believe, and they don’t see what you see.
You have to speak to them in their own language and on their own terms if you want to change their minds or convince them of something.
And why the conflict can feel scary:
Our fears burn so bright that if we truly face them, we think we might be blinded. …[But] once we’re truly clear about the fear, it fades. It might even disappear.
And why it can feel unfair:
In all markets, the market leader gets an unfair advantage… because it feels easier and safer... The strategy, then, is not to wish and dream of becoming a big fish. The strategy is to pick a small enough pond.
And that there’s a difference between projects and tasks, and that freelancers, or anyone “making a ruckus,” is doing projects:
Your goal is to create an extraordinary outcome, not to perform the tasks. The work done is simply a means to an end. … [It is not] saying, “I’m going to move this paper from here to there.” Claim the project before you start the work.
(Hello, email, which has long been an inspiring, inconsistent, contextless task).
And finally, emphasis mine, why I want to avoid asking:
From an early age, most of us were taught to avoid [initiative]… Wait to get picked. Wait to get called on. Become popular. Fit in. Maybe stand out, but just a little bit. Failure is far worse than not trying. … The only way to get initiative is to take it. It’s never given.
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