Dear Friends,
With this blog post we are sending you heart-felt wishes for safety, health, financial well-being, and loads of love and happiness.
We know that connecting with others is the lifeblood of economies. And this is the mission of our meetings and programs – to connect other like-minded people who want to make a difference in their world, their business and job, their lives and the lives of others.
All the time, and especially now with social distancing, our immune systems need connection, humor, positive action and responses, rest from anxiety, healthy food, water, exercise, nature, and music. We need joyful memories if we are to stay healthy in mind and spirit, as well as physically. Let’s make this happen in our businesses and job searches!
I have come to think of prosperity as living by favor. Our modern English word derives from Middle English prosperite, borrowed through Old French from Latin prosperous, or "favorable." The Latin word also means "fortunate," and the word prosperity does have an element of good luck. Isn’t that what our networking practice has been? To do favors for and receive them from each other?
Now how can we apply a prosperous vision to online social networking?
Networking Principles Still Apply
1. Sharing feelings and experiences is still the way to build relationships. We need the safety of knowing whom we can trust. We can’t share events together directly now. But when we can’t be in person, getting as many senses involved as we can increases the connection. If you need ideas for platforms to try out for connecting, here are some options: There are Zoom, Google Hang Outs, Jitsi, Skype, and other online and phone resources.
2. Meeting in groups builds community. It’s how we come in contact with people to know when a referral is needed. Community is essential for the “immune system” of the region’s prosperity. We need to stand with each other to withstand the virus and its impacts. Regional viability is essential to our economy. So regional meetings like this one help weave us into and throughout the “web of life” economy.
3. Networking one-on-one is still the way we get to know each other well enough to make referrals and recommendations. Encouraging is second nature to most of us. We often see the value in someone else more than they see it in themselves. Let’s enhance this. Job seekers who think they don’t have value right now contribute by sharing their insights and give hope for the future when they share their desire to bring their skills and knowledge back into the workplace. Business development folks are looking to meet needs and pass along suggestions for other connections to meet even more needs. Everyone is less lonely when reminded of our interconnectedness. To share experiences brings hope, and needs are filled when we share our connections.
4. Bringing skills and benefits into the world is necessary, needed and wanted. Yet being found can be stymied in these times. We all need to be needed and to belong. Check out our Staying Together 2020 page to stay in touch with us, or join our coaching, courses or workshops for more accountability, camaraderie and connection. See if feeling belonging and sharing happens for you. You’ll love it!