Most people strive for success in life, but how do you actually achieve it? After five years in law school, I have discovered three things everyone can do in order to achieve success.
Intro
I will be posting a three-part series in which I will disclose my three factors for success. The objective of the posts is to help you all become successful and achieve your goals and dreams. If I can play a little role in helping you along the way, well then it has been well worth writing the posts.
When I started law school, I had no idea of how important networking was. My main focus was on studying my ass off and getting the best possible grades. About six months into my study I realized that some of my peers were getting better grades and landing the cool student jobs at law firms ahead of me. I knew that they couldn’t be studying harder than me, so there had to be something else to their success. I discovered that the most successful students where good networkers, something I wasn’t. That’s when I decided to ditch my old introvert habits and became a networker. It’s a decision I will never regret taking.
What are the benefits of networking?
Many people don’t see themselves as networkers, but let me tell you networking isn’t just for entrepreneurs and business people. Networking is for everyone who want’s to succeed in life. That’s why I recommend that you build and cultivate a network within your profession.
I have build a solid network by being involved in a variety of things. I have gone to networking events and had extracurricular activities. I joined a sorority. I did pro bono work as a legal advisor and even had an unpaid internship working 37 hours a week for six months. My network has opened a world of possibilities for me. I know so many great people who are bright minded and have awesome skill sets. I can effectively draw on them to land job interviews or to exchange thoughts and ideas sparking my creative thinking and problem solving abilities.
Top 3 benefits of networking:
1. New opportunities
Having a network gives you access to people who can boost your career by opening doors and help raise your profile. You will be able to tap into other people’s network through referrals.
2. Increase your chances for success
Your chances for success goes up when you have people opening doors and exchanging information with you. Because of your network, you will have more confidence in your own abilities and you will have people supporting and cheering for you to succeed. You will also experience personal growth, which will have a compounded effect on your future career as well.
3. Helping other people achieving success
Networking is most effective when both parts gain something from the interaction. Helping your network by sharing information and opening doors is the main key to your success. Moreover, it feels good helping other people, right?
3 tips on how to network
We all know that it takes time to build something valuable. Very few people have overnight success at building meaningful and rewarding relationships. The same goes for creating a great network. It’s an ongoing process, which is why you should do a little networking every day. Here are my 3 tips on how to network efficiently.
You should ask yourself the following 3 questions:
1. What kind of network do I want?
You should consider which types of persons and professions you would like in your network. For instance, if you are an up-and-coming lawyer then it might be a good idea to find an experienced lawyer who knows the ins and outs of the profession and who can be a mentor for you.
2. Where do I find people who can help me?
Your network consists of your friends, family, colleagues and members of social groups you are affiliated with. Anyone you know is part of your network and can be of tremendous value to your future success. However, you should always be expanding your network and get to know new people. Start going to networking events and other social events. You will be amazed by how many new relationships you can build.
Oh, and since we are on Steemit I should emphasize the importance of interacting on social media platforms as well. Meeting new people online and having meaningful conversations might be the easiest way to meet likeminded people who can help you.
3. How do I start networking?
Essentially networking is the same as making friends, and the balance of who is contributing more should be fairly balanced. That means that it’s a game of give and take and no one should be networking solely for their own benefit.
Successful networkers are always visible and interact with a lot of people. It’s all about getting on peoples radars and staying there. You can be visible by:
- Increasing your interactions with the people you already know, and have them introduce you to their network.
- Start going to networking events
- Create your own groups on social media platforms
- Organize events
- Do volunteer work, perhaps in an alumni or a charity organization
- On Steemit, you should be posting, commenting and reesteeming.
- You can also meet up with Steemians on many other platforms as well. Here are a couple chats to start out with:
https://steemit.chat/home
https://discordapp.com/
A good way to be more visible on Steemit is to promote your posts on other platforms. You should check out the following pages:
https://steemit.chat/channel/postpromotion
https://www.facebook.com/pg/steemitbc/posts
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1281526168558106
https://www.facebook.com/groups/welovesteemit
https://www.reddit.com/r/steemit
That’s it for part 1 and thank you for reading. I will be posting part 2 sometime during next week so be sure to keep an eye out for it.
Your comments are much appreciated and feel free to ask any questions.
