My buddy said my 'I'm good, how are you' thing was fake, and he was right
We were grabbing burgers in Reno when he called me out, saying I answer that question like a robot so nobody ever gets past it. Now I actually pause for a second and give a real answer, even if it's just 'honestly, kind of a rough morning.' It feels weird and exposed every time, but people open up back instead of moving on. Does anyone else catch themselves giving the scripted version without even noticing?
Man, I get what your buddy was getting at but he's only half right (and half wrong). The problem isn't the words "I'm good, how are you" by themselves, it's saying them on autopilot without even hearing the question. I do the same thing and yeah, it's a total script, but here's the part people miss. Most folks asking don't actually want a full answer, they just want the handshake, so when you suddenly hand them "rough morning" they don't always open up, sometimes they get awkward and bail. Some do open up, sure, but it's less about the magic phrase and more about whether the other person was ready for something real. So the fix isn't forcing a deep answer every time, it's just actually pausing and deciding in the moment if you mean it. Otherwise you've just traded one script for another one.