The follow up

comments, one saying wow you really should finish that novel and another (3 years later) saying good news, I did

A skill I'd like to get better at is following up.

Following up shows you care. All of the opportunities and things you've said in the past going by the wayside.

Coming back and saying, hey I've done this.

It's not possible for everything. But how much time would you save yourself if you said, hey I'm not interested in this.

In or out, being honest saves time.

The digital world drowns in messages left on read, emails not replied to, unfinished projects and promises never kept. So following up is a way to stand out. To be the one in 1000 that gets back to someone.

A job interviewee that never hears back.

A first date left sitting alone.

All fixed by a few words.

I've had emails in my inbox where the person replied three times to their own message reminding me their questions existed, or to say hi again. And I usually reply to them first. Don't ask me about the hundreds of unread happy birthday messages on LinkedIn (thank you all).

There's plenty of things I've said I'll do because of excitement in the moment but then never do because life and things change and I get excited by something else or another thing comes up and the events happen and time drifts away.

I'm excited by default. I find it hard to believe more people aren't. We're here and we're all gonna die sometime, that's enough for me.

Following up, even to say no to someone often gets greeted with respect.

Is it better to be shot down or drift along in the unknown?

A considerate no is one of the most respectful things you can say. No to old dreams no to lingering invitations no to poor relationships no to unnecessary habits.

Someone commented on one of my posts once saying they'd like to see my book get published.

One of the sweetest comments I've ever left online was replying to that comment saying it was.

Who knows if they read it.

But I know it's there.

I followed up and it made me feel good.

So maybe it does the same for others.

If you're waiting on a reply from someone, perhaps the lack of reply is a message itself (take no reply as a no) but perhaps the other person lives just as deep a life as you and is waiting to hear back.

The universe likes to conserve energy and do things in batches so if you’re waiting for someone to follow up with you, perhaps you should follow up with someone else and send the energy for another lap on the carousel.


See the original post where the comment came from on Quora.