Igniting YOUR Transformation! Reach out and make a new friend!
Do you remember making new friends as a child? In your neighborhood? At School? At Church? At Temple? Our childhoods were filled with opportunities to meet new people and make new friends.
How about your life right now? Where are the opportunities to make a new friend and expand your network?
What if you are like me - I can talk to anyone but am wildly uncomfortable making an initial introduction. This past week, I attended a new networking event where I knew a handful of people but was attending on my own. I was relieved to see some familiar faces but didn't want to 'cling' to my current contacts, I was there to expand my network. I was thrilled that someone walked up to me and introduced themself and we had a lovely conversation. What a relief. Thankfully, the open networking lasted a short period of time and then the meeting was structured with introductions and elevator pitches!
It was a successful networking event for me. I made a few new contacts and scheduled a couple of 'meet and greets'.
Do you attend networking groups alone or do you bring someone with you? I suggest that you attend alone and force yourself to meet new people. By attending solo, it puts me in my 'discomfort' zone and provides me with the opportunity to grow and potentially gain a new contact and perhaps friend. Lots of my networking contacts have become clients and subsquently friends over the past several years.
And I encourage you to NOT put pressure on yourself to meet everyone in the room. When I first started attending networking meetings, that was my goal - meet as many people in the room as I could. That was exhausting and impossible. My current goal is ONE new contact. I attend multiple types of meetings each month, if I make one solid contact at each meeting, its great!
So take a look at the opportunties in your daily life to meet new people and expand your network. You never know where the contact will lead or how they will help ignite your transformation!
