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Episode 117 – Your Social Capital
[-15:38] Whether you like it or not, we all use that “Network” word. Networking is the most important skill that you could have, or having solid ability to communicate with other people. You should be able to walk into any room — or conference or a Starbucks — and be able to work that room. It is the one thing that scared me the most my entire life. As soon as I started to devote my time to it, I’ve discovered more opportunities than having talent could ever do.
[-14:26] At the same time, you don’t need to hop on a plane and go to some boring conference. You should be looking more internally at what you currently and what your social capitol is. You can aspire to have a bigger network and more successful people in it. What you currently have — your friends, colleagues, people in your life — is your social network right now! You should really start to evaluate that circle.
Evaluate Your Social Circle
[-13:45] Start to write down every person in your family, friends, as if it were your company:
– Who is more successful?
– What are the skills they have that could be useful to you?
– What are your friends’ careers?
– Are you friends better at being communicating better?
It may sound sleazy if you think of it how you can utilize your friends. You can be grateful for them and value them, but it’s worthwhile to take a look at them. This can also help you weed out negative people from your circle.
Networking is not a One-Way Street
[-11:43] This is valuable for many reasons. By doing this, you will start to realize that you do have a pretty amazing network already that you may be taking for granted. Networking is not a one-way thing.
– How would these people convey you?
– Are you someone who is contributing a lot to their net worth?
– How do you measure up?
[-09:27] Start thinking of these valuable people and how YOU can benefit them. That’s where a lot of success happens: It’s about strengthening your current relationships. There are multiple ways you could to this:
– Offering them a beneficial connection, wether socially or financially.
– Offering emotional connection
– Offering professional advice.
Look at how each relationship works and how you can benefit them. If you have a friend who is a writer and another who is a designer, would they benefit from knowing each other if you helped them connect? That would strengthen your circle. Reach out to your friends and ask them if they want to be introduced to beneficial parties. This is a chance for you to make it happen.
Start Thinking: Long Term
[-06:24] You may be thinking about the immediacy of instant gratification. If you bring more people to your circle, how can you benefit those people? If you connect the people who are already in your circle, you’re creating long-term relationships / connections. Tend to your personal connections rather than surface ones.
[-04:55] The more you’re able to make connections for people that benefit them, the more you become the power connector. That means you’re someone everyone values and bit by bit people will start to reciprocate. Without needing to go to some conference, you’re able to build solid connections with people. That is way more valuable because the referrals will be more personal.
‘Tis the Season!
[-03:29] The holiday season is a great excuse to connect with people and to start to reevaluate your relationships. Find out what people do, evaluate on how they contribute to your life — then evaluate how you contribute to their life. Do whatever you can do by bringing people together.
This is a first step to realizing you already have an amazing network in place. The more you do this, the more it will come back to you tenfold. Do that, put in the time right now!
I want to wish you a Merry Christmas! Send me a message with your key takeaways from these Episodes. Let me know if I should keep doing these in the new year: [email protected].
Leave me a review on iTunes. Consider it an early Christmas present!
Rock on!