Building your following needs to happen based on the value added and attraction. There is nothing valuable in asserting yourself onto others, as you will ultimately waste the time of other people, as well as your own.
As a business owner of your life, it is your responsibility to recognize these moments, and focus on moving towards attracting and creating opportinities that attract. Selling Ice Cubes to Eskimos is a difficult errand.
As a builder, I’ve found myself in the position of asserting myself, more than putting myself in the position of attraction. This is the nature of ambitious people, that have the urge to prove how successful they are, by selling themselves to people that don’t need them.
For the longest while, I’ve been doing this, making my life more difficult, and infinitely more entertaining. However, as I am approaching my thirties, I am finding time infinitely more valuable, and my need to assert myself is vaining, and my need to create and attract is rising.
Anytime you can, you should swim downstream. Let the forces of nature help you reach your goals, instead of hindering you. And it will be up to you to navigate the rapids of the life stream. It may take more energy than assertiveness itself.