And finally, if you can't reach me on Zoom, you flash a beacon in the sky. With a bat on it. This is yet another way of disrespecting my time.

Ok, jokes aside, this post resonated with me, more personally than professionally (because no one wants to meet with me, professionally). Every other week or so, my elderly dad asks me if I want to go to lunch. Inevitably, if I say yes, he says "great. Why don't you pick a place?" For years, this seemed to me like he was expressing deference for my tastes, but now it just seems like he's lazy and wants to me to do the work of picking a new place.

So you want my expertise in relation to your idea! No problem, these are my consulting rates ___, can you come to my office at ___ on the ____ ?

It is how professionals operate, e.g. doctors, dentists, lawyers, accountants, architects (building and construction), etc.

> Them: tells you to say/do something

> Louis: Fuck you, I don’t have to do anything!

It sounds like OP is not strong enough to improve the terms of engagement (e.g. just send them a Calendly/Calendar link to help them book,) and has intrusive thoughts about being disrespectful back instead.

OP needs to find her/his way of saying "yes, on my terms" without feeling like it's a chore. That might be with a Calendly link, or setting a weekly quota on extra-professional meetings, or simply saying "no" if the subject isn't meeting some bar.

Explaining that your inner desire is to ask people to fuck off because they're interested in you, but are themselves busy, isn't exactly flooding with respect. If this happens often, then just say a simple "sorry, no" to most and free up your time to politely say "yes, let me help you" to the remaining few. That's what the rest of us do. You can't help everyone, and if you're becoming an asshole for it, you're not going to be helping anyone.

The Stoic philosophy separates what you can change from what you can't change, and asks you to focus on the latter. Changing other people who just met you is going to be annoyingly hard, as OP has discovered. Out of the eight billion people on Earth, there's always someone new to say no to. Instead, focus on changes you can make to yourself to simplify the interaction. For some, that might be hiring a secretary. Or just use Calendly.

However, I could also read this piece as bragging about how popular OP is, which would be inviting even more people to want a meeting. I think the result of such a post will be more ruthless people sending invitations, and fewer of the respectful people sending invitations. The opposite of what OP wants. YMMV. Hopefully.