5 Steps to Establish Effective Systems for Networking

1. Focus on Who You Want to Become, Not What Others Say You Should Be

• Takeaway: "Be the designer of your world and not merely the consumer of it."

• Tip: Focus on the type of people you want to surround yourself with, not the sheer number of connections. This is about creating a more profound and meaningful circle than what you find on LinkedIn. Consider the characteristics of the person you aspire to become and ask yourself: Which industries do they belong to? What are their ambitions? What career stage are they at? Are you looking to learn from someone in similar shoes or someone who has already worn them? Figure out what uniquely works for you.

2. Begin with Small Wins

• Takeaway: "All big things come from small beginnings. The seed of every habit is a single, tiny decision. But as that decision is repeated, a habit sprouts and grows stronger.”

• Tip: Once you decide what type of professional connections you want, don’t expect to contact hundreds of people at once. Set a realistic weekly goal and gradually work your way up. For instance, if your aim is to nudge five existing connections and make three new ones each week, start by nudging just one current connection this week and reaching out to one new connection next week. As Clear frequently emphasizes in his book, consistently improving by just 1% can have a remarkable compounding effect over time.

3. Be Firm in the Process, But Flexible in the Scope

• Takeaway: "We rarely think about change this way because everyone is consumed by the end goal. But one push-up is better than not exercising. One minute of guitar practice is better than none at all. One minute of reading is better than never picking up a book. It’s better to do less than you hoped than to do nothing at all."

• Tip: Striving for perfection at all times is unrealistic, but that doesn't mean settle for doing nothing. Even small steps keep you moving forward. As Newton advised, maintaining inertia allows for consistent progress. However, if you pause for too long, it can be challenging to regain momentum. So, if you find yourself overwhelmed during the week, try sending a single message to one of your closer professional relationships. Remember, every action, no matter how small, contributes to your journey.

4. Make it Easy, Make it Satisfying

• Takeaway: "Whenever you want to change your behavior, you can simply ask yourself: How can I make it obvious? How can I make it attractive? How can I make it easy? How can I make it satisfying?"

• Tip: Maintaining a habit can be challenging, so it's essential to design a system that makes it easy and rewarding. Incorporate it into your routine. Do you listen to podcasts on the commute to work? Make it a habit to send one to someone it made you think of. Take it a step further and make it rewarding. We're not Pavlov's dog, but our minds work in similar ways.

5. Reflect Regularly

• Takeaway: "Identity is the north star of habit change."

• Tip: It's easy to get so wrapped up in the routine that you begin to focus on results rather than the person you set out to become. To ensure your network aligns with the person you aspire to be, conduct regular self-reviews. Each month ask yourself questions that can act as your guiding star. Does the network you're building energize or drain you? Can your current connections contribute to your desired future? What are you optimizing for with this network?

What I'm committing to this week to build an outreach system (time commitment of ~1.5 hours):

• 🤔 Performing a self-review this Friday on the relationships I have been putting time into (~45 minutes)

• ✅ Using the framework discussed today to set an outreach goal for new and current connections (~30 minutes)

• 📖 Sharing this excerpt from Atomic Habits for strategies on beating akrasia (i.e. acting against better judgment, e.g. procrastination) with 3 connections (~15 minutes)

What are you committing to this week? Reply to this email!