Connecting As A Task To Be Managed

One of the biggest excuses I hear from business people as to their inability to get out and meet new people (connect) is the lack of time. We all have busy lives. Personal pressures, professional obligations and a litany of other things which demand our time, energy and attention. At the end end the day who has time to get out and meet new people?

Its a problem even I struggle with. I receive nearly 400 emails per day. I have more phone calls than I can possibly count. I am directly responsible for three companies and a new start-up and have a family to boot. It would be easy to throw my hands up and say, "I'm simply too busy!"

And I would be doing myself a huge disservice.

Connecting with new people and taking the time to strengthen connections with those people you want and need to know better is one of the most most important things I think I do on a daily basis. It's critical to my present and future success and I suspect yours as well.

Getting out and connecting with new people is something I have had to literally force myself to schedule into my day. Whether it be scheduling an early morning coffee or breakfast with a new contact or dedicating a space of time after lunch to simply pick up the phone and have a check in conversation with someone I've recently met. I literally have to manage the "effort" as a task on my very overgrown To Do List. However when I have it committed to paper and it stares me in the face every day, it becomes easier to plug through and just do it. Before long it doesn't end up feeling like a task at all. It becomes something I actually look forward to each day. Without a doubt it breaks up the monotony of the other less exciting or not so stimulating tasks I must complete during a given day.

Try scheduling blocks of time today to get out there and connect. Give it a try won't you? You'll be glad you did!

Ripple On!!!