On the other side of this, after realizing that people were willing to say no, I realized I could freely ask a lot more “spicy” and interesting questions to people.
At the time, professionally, I entered a rather cagey/secretive finance industry so it was liberating to realize I could ask tough questions, and at worst higher-ups would give me a knowing nod coupled with a “I’m afraid I can’t answer that one”.
(Admittedly, this started to bleed into Slytherin-level tricks where I tried to watch for how quickly someone responded or denied. I certainly avoid doing that to random folks at a party, though!)
I wonder if this is more or less effective than a short session of mindfulness meditation.
There are two problems I often encounter: lack of (1) attention or (2) energy. Interestingly, I’ve found mindfulness meditation to be highly effective with (1) but I haven’t seen an obvious improvement to (2).
Perhaps, “lie down in dark room” could help for (2). I’ll have to test it out!