Notes on #Netwalking

It struck me, like a ton of bricks Paul, how fundamentally different my considerations of career path are from discovering and aligning all I do with my purpose in life.

Why would 25 strangers give up a summer Saturday morning to walk in 40 degree heat to just walk and talk?!

Each summer I gather a couple dozen people in a public place in Toronto to think outside the walls of conference centers and workplaces, outside the framework of their own careers and jobs to stop and think - about purpose, passion, productivity and most of all, help each other to think out loud and think together.

Oh, and walk while we do it.

For over a decade now, I've taken my daily networking meetings from the coffee shop into a free-range structure of walking. But once a summer I host this public event, an open call for people who want more out of life to self-select and join me for this exercise in discovery through dialogue.

Rather than me pontificating let me share what this year's participants shared with me after the event.

From the 2019 netwalkers:

I thought I’d meet a few new professional friends and talk shop. Boy was I wrong. I consider myself a purpose-driven individual, orbiting around my "why" closely. But life has a way of slowly eroding that orbit and work/family are a constant source of gravity that pulls us off the path. It was really valuable to spend some time reconnecting with my "why" and expanding my idea of what is possible for me. We don't do this enough.

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This was like no networking event I've ever been to - at one point we were wandering a maze in a garden thinking about what we would do if money, education, status, society were no barrier. Then we talked to each other about how we could evolve what we do now to connect more closely with that 'impossible idea' and wow, it was scary how actually possible our dreams really are, if we stop, think and plan to make them real.

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This is my third netwalk with Paul and there is no secret up-sell, or purchase to get the "real value". Yet there is a cost. Paul asks us to be vulnerable with ourselves and be open to possibility in a world where we're often just running to complete our daily to-do lists. I've now realized I need to come prepared to get something entirely different from what I showed up for because the group is often so mixed and it's exciting to solving problems together with people outside my sector and industry. But it's always worth it because it's always a group of really positive people who want more out of life like me.

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It was much more than I expected, and I truly can’t thank you enough for pushing a group of strangers to share wisdom, inspiration, and genuine caring for each other. Thank you too for managing the timing for each conversation, to make the groups change partners and then change the format several times on the walk. I see too why we could never do something like this inside! Nature is the ultimate conference facility :)

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You and my walking partners posed interesting questions for me to think and reflect on. The experiment of trying to understand what I want to do, where I want to be, and how to get there was harder than I thought. Often times we go through life with someone else's manuscript of how to do life and we forget that it is our life. The netwalking experience reminded me that no one can manage me better than me and if I don't define my dreams and plan to make them real, who will?

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I found the walk engaging and a practical way to openly discuss our current state and where we would like to be. And not just some vague "I want a new job" but pushing us in several different ways to define what our "future-state self" looks like, does, dresses like, earns, right down to what our life would be like. It was a very different way to think about personal development. Was great to get fresh perspective with a peer of my own level of work and life experience who isn't in my line of work. It's hard to meet new people as an executive!

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Success has a way of pulling you in a path that is often best for your employer but still aligned with your strengths. But this walk helped me remember some very long forgotten career dreams. Thank you Paul for sharing your own derailment moment, learnings from failure and how playing the "long game" means we can end up anywhere if we just start planning now and declaring to ourselves and network, where we want to go. I was content, but now I'm excited for the future!

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As much as people talk about the importance of vulnerability, there aren't too many occasions where you can embrace that when it comes to your professional career. However, it is so important to have those opportunities and spaces where you can take a step back, reflect, and be vulnerable in encouraging company in order to share and nurture some of those dreams for yourself-- #NetwalkTO is one of those spaces. #NetwalkTO was an opportunity to peel back the layers of my day to day life while being surrounded by like-minded and motivated people and explore some of the professional challenges I face, as well as the moonshot goals that I secretly wish for myself, but very rarely share. I appreciated the helpful guided prompts to unpack some of these considerations as I walked through the botanical gardens and reflected on my ideal future self and the steps to get there. Paul's passion for sharing knowledge is evident throughout, but at the end of the walk, as he was pulling books out of his backpack, I realized that he's been carrying a backpack full of books on a hot and sweltering day THE ENTIRE WALK so that he can share even more knowledge with everyone! I left the day feeling energized and re-invigorated -- experiences like #NetwalkTO are rare, so if you get an opportunity to participate, don't miss out.

* A link to 2018's walker-comments too.

Why the books?!

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a walking library because I think it's the ultimate hubris to believe that I have all the answers- and so I tap into the wisdom of the printed word that the business community, my own mentors and peers have shared with me are truly valuable.

My three must-read recommendations on this year's walk ( although yes I had about 15 books to share this year ) are resources I hope can help you!

1. Brené Brown's "Dare to Lead" the latest best seller from the global phenomenon. I'm going to write about it here soon, but for now, here's the link.
2. I encouraged the group to get Journalling - maybe for the first time and maybe again after a while but this is such a highly valuable thing - and I shared with them a resource from my master-coach Robin Sharma on journalling tips - here's the link for you!
3. Stoic philosophy - ok, it falls in and out of trend every decade or so ( for the past 1,000 years ) but reconnecting with this work for the last few years has really been valuable to my network, here is a post I wrote on why and books you might check out.

So when are you netwalking in MY city Paul?!

Which is the most asked question I get whenever I share this event each summer.

Here's the thing. What makes ME so special?! You can walk, you can talk! So host your own any time, any where! I am happy to connect with you and share the format and some tips but please, there is no magic element to this.

BUT - my job takes me across Canada ( and this is NOT part of my job, nor do I gain financially from this in any way ) so if you know I'll be in your city, at a conference you'll be at PLEASE reach out to me to co-host with you!

Look, I'm a dork. But I'm blessed to know why I'm on earth - I exist to be help people find their purpose and then do that for a living. And I spend time every day I'm alive doing something to advance my mission. So if we can do this together for your city and network, please, let's do it!!

Why the summer?

It's not just about being able to walk in nature - too many people in my network tell me now that in the summer it's still go go go. The cult of busyness is hard at work and bosses and office teams have swallowed the hook, we're all gonna die!! We need to slow down, refresh, recharge, rejuvenate. I know we don't all have the luxury of vacation days, cottages etc but this event is about taking a moment for YOU. So if you couldn't join me, take a walk this summer. In the meantime here is the soundtrack to my love letter to my hometown of Toronto - the aptly named "Take it Slow" by Grand Analog.

As always - thank you all!

We started with almost 30 and the heat and other commitments whittled us down that morning but I want to thank everyone who came out and were open to my mad scientist social experiments in radical connecting and what is my personal expression of care for as many people who will come out and play.

Life my friends is short, let's put more light out into this world.

Can I help you? As always, I'm at your service, Paul Nazareth