What makes a good life? Whether you dream of success, health, wealth or happiness; the answer remains the same. It all boils down to your relationships to the people around you. As Jim Rohn said “Your network is your net worth”.
So, ask yourself. Who are the people around you? Did you know that you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with? Who you hang out with highly influences your future. Do you spend time with positive and successful individuals? Or do you spend more time with toxic people who have nothing to do but complain all day?
Be careful with the people whom you surround yourself with. They have the power to dramatically change your life – whether it be for the better or for the worse.
Porter Gale, an internationally renowned public speaker and former VP for marketing wrote a book entitled Your Network is your Net Worth: Unlock the Hidden Power of Connections for Wealth, Success and Happiness in the Digital Age. The book is about the importance of building a strong network in your life to help you in your journey towards your goals. For her, it is not just about connecting with people but rather it is about making powerful and meaningful connections.
There used to be six degrees of separation among people on planet earth. But according to a study done by a French mobile carrier; in this digital age, this degree of separation is now just lowered to three. Everyone can be connected to everyone by just three degrees by linking people with their interests. This means the probability of meeting anyone on this planet is now higher than ever. So, the real question now is who do you want to meet? What kind of people do you think can help you towards your journey to success?
Here are some insights from the book:
Here are some key points from the author:
1. Remove Barriers
Reflect on yourself and ask what’s holding you back from making connections?
If your inner voice is giving you a negative message, look at what it stems from.
2. Use your Passion to Start Connecting
Connecting and meeting people is easy. It happens every now and then. However, establishing a deeper and more meaningful connection is a challenge. More so, if you are an introvert. Join an interest group. And start attending events about your passion. Connecting with people with the same interest is so easy because you will have a lot of things to talk about. In addition, through your passion, you are connecting to the world using your authentic self. Start by identifying 3 of your passions.
3. Identify your Tonality
According to Porter Gale, one important question to ask yourself is “How do you want to be seen in the world?” It is about creating your own personal brand. What persona do you want to project? In marketing, it is similar to market positioning. What are your interests? What topics are you knowledgeable and comfortable talking about? In short, tonality is all about how you want to present yourself to the world.
4. Have A Producer Mindset
Are you a producer or a consumer? Producers are the creators while consumers are those who buy the products. While both are equally important, it is advisable to be in a producer mindset. A producer mindset asks “what value am I bringing to the table?” It is all about helping others. It is focusing on the “we” instead of the “me”.
Helping others, that must be one ingredient to success.
5. Respect Others
To build a deeper and more meaningful network, it is also necessary to learn to respect others. Respect everyone regardless of age, sex, gender, profession or income.
Your Network is Your Net Worth
Learn to connect and value relationships with the right people. Focus also on helping others. And they will help find your way to success.
A great society comes from strong bonds.
– Porter Gale
If you will be given a chance to sit and have a real conversation with any person in the planet in the bench above, who would you choose? And why?
So, what are you waiting for? That person is just three degrees separated from you. Good luck!