Personal-branding coaches insist a first impression takes seven seconds and cannot be remade, which is why they sell a preparation course.
Invert the leverage. On the worst day of your life, introduce yourself to as many strangers as possible — hair unresolved, small talk in ruins. Every one of them has now met your floor, and each future encounter registers as growth. Our researchers describe the strategy as dollar-cost averaging a reputation. The mixer’s other attendees described it differently.