| I just finished Day 3 the other day. It is usually out of my comfort zone to call strangers and talk to them (I'm not much of a prank caller) but I told myself that I need to do it to move on and get better, so I did it.
Here is my Day 3 experience:
I sat in a coffeehouse after school, doing homework. What was on my mind wasn't homework though; it was the Day 3 challenge: dial as many random numbers as it takes to get 3 movie suggestions.
Eventually I got out my cell phone and told myself decisively "You have to do this to make things better. This is part of the challenge for a reason, and skipping this will not result in social profit. The challenge is set, I need to do it."
I walked outside and got out my cell phone, dialed a random number with my local area code. I got the robot lady telling me that the number I dialed "is not assigned." This happened to me the next 12-14 times.
Finally I went to the Yellow Pages site and searched residential numbers in my area starting with 'K'. This gave me a brief list of about 10 numbers in my area, all in service and assigned. So I blocked my nervous reflexes and dialed a number.
First call:
Man: "Hello?"
Me: "Yeah hi, is... Doug there?
Man: "Sorry?"
Me: "I'm looking for Doug, is he there?"
Man: "No there's no Doug here, you must have the wrong number."
Me: "Oh okay, well actually maybe you can help me out quickly... Um, look, the reason I was calling Doug was cause he was gonna see a movie with me tonight, and I don't know what to see with him. So, have you seen any movies recently that you liked? Any recommendations?"
Man: "Um, no sorry I don't watch movies"
Click.
There were about 6 or 7 failed attempts that went something like this, except some used the name Katie instead of Doug. I thought it would be more believable if I used a girl's name instead of a guy's.
What I did notice is after five or six attempts at calling people, the nerves go completely away. Eventually it worked and I got three movie recommendations, 2 of them were "This is It" and the third was some movie from the seventies, I think "Bonnie and Clyde" or something.
TIP: I find that businesses worked better for me. People at their house do not plan to be disturbed and don't respond as patiently and politely as people whose job it is to help other people. Search businesses and call them, ask for a person, then say "Oh, is this a business? Oh haha I must have the wrong number. But maybe you can help me quickly anyway..."
I didn't get one recommendation until I started calling businesses.
The challenge isn't going to be easy. You have to hold your breath and push through the parts that seem uncomfortable.
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