An overwhelming majority of emails and messages I receive end broadly the same way
What do you think of the idea?
Am I on the right track?
How should I plan my life?
What’s the best advice you can give me?
And my personal favorite
Want to pick your brains on this
This form of help-seeking is lazy, at its best.
When we ask such questions, we may think we are being considerate of someone’s time
But if the opposite person truly values their time, then this approach is frustrating
You expect someone to navigate through your story, your circumstance, your context, and then distill all the thoughts into one or two powerful implementable points?
Because you asked?
Try this the next time
Be. Ruthlessly. Specific
And relevant
That shows you have a problem
And you have taken the effort to narrow down the reasons
And have identified someone who could help
And are respectful of their time
While aware of where they can help and how
If you get a response, you know for a fact that you have a conversation going.
With a sense of purpose.
For all the times you ask for generic advice
Someone who could have helped, chooses not to