Photo courtesy of vagabondrhythm
Whew, man what a week. Learned so much about blogging and interviewing people. Just a quick summation of things I learned.
- That people (even famous ones) are genuinely nice people
- That everyone makes mistakes (just wait till the cons)
- Have to be positive
- Failure is ok
- Everybody is human
- Brevity is wisdom, keep it concise (when speaking to others) – thanks Craig!
- Everybody especially well known people are busy
- Blogging is hard
- Don’t blast people with 50+ interview questions
- I have to be more personable
Here are the things I have learned from the different interviews:
- Craig Newmark – Treat everyone the way you want to be treated.
- Rob Malda – The greatest achievements have to do with the people in our lives
- Walter Lewin – When doing something we love we give it our best effort
- Jimmy Wales – Failure is a stepping stone to success, not a barrier
To add to this list, I wanted to put into words the mistakes I’ve made thus far. Originally I had this brilliant idea that I ask people 50+ questions and tell them “[pqr]don’t worry, just pick and choose the questions you want to answer[/pqr].” In the end my idea was brilliantly unrealistic. They’re too busy. It’s like asking them to do my homework and then turn it in for me.
Since then I whittled my questions down to 10 or so. Still very good questions which give us insight into their mentality and optimism. Honestly, looking back I’m like what the fudge was I thinking?!!! Haha! Well, like I stated earlier, mistakes are to be expected – especially when you’re learning.
Interestingly this morning while getting breakfast at a local restaurant (portuguese sausage, eggs and fried rice from loco moco) I saw an older guy with a football shirt that had an interesting statment. It read “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard”. That’s so true. [pq]What I lack in skill I’ll definitely make up in determination and desire[/pq].
One of the interviewees stated that my interview request wasn’t personal enough and that while I did not offend him, I might have offended others. I bypassed being personal for the sake of being concise and to the point. I realize that most rejected due to the fact that I really am a nobody – for now. So far I have been rejected serveral times. If I were contacting them in behalf of TIME magazine or Wired it would be a different story. I’m not discouraged by this reality but realize that I have to start somewhere. If it were so easy, everyone would be doing it. Soon – very soon, these circumstances will change. Until next week!