Random Thoughts for A Tuesday

My morning didn’t go at all to plan, just like a lot of other things in my life right now. And to continue in the vein of unplanned, I just felt like writing some random thoughts for a Tuesday. This blog is a little different to my normal ones, so here it goes!

How My Day Started

I actually left the house on time to get the kids to school (doesn’t happen too often), only to get stuck in a new traffic due to roadworks with all the new houses been built. So we ended up being really late. And THEN, I realised I had forgotten my little bub’s school bag with her drink and food (arrrggghhh moment to get the day going and it’s all before coffee). It’s a cold, wet and miserable day out there today – grey and overcast.

It’s Sunny Inside

Despite my morning, I can tell you something. I am smiling and beaming. I’m brimming with excitement. In my head, it’s sunny and bright!

Do you know why? Because I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that I am where I am supposed to be in my life. I’ve found my purpose and I’m right where I need to be. And that feels damn good, let me tell you.

Purpose

And while there is an irony in this, I found my purpose throught networking. The irony being that I am now in the business of speaking, training, coaching and mentoring about networking.

It was through all of my experiences, good and bad, watching people struggle and get disillusioned that led me to the idea of developing this concept. It was through mismanaged expectations of what networking was about and my many mistakes that I learned what to do and how to do it.

My Why

The idea is to help people network for success. To network with ease and comfort. To be strategic, intentional and focussed. To know how to measure and nurture, how to network offline and online.

But ultimately, my purpose is to help business owners and ambitious professionals to grow in confidence. Because what I found is that my confidence grew immeasurably. I didn’t notice it immediately, only upon reflection. I attribute a lot of this to learning to network.

A Little Bit of Sharing

So why am I telling you this?

Well I’m exceptionally shy – I’m the girl that you didn’t know existed at school as I was so shy. I couldn’t speak to anyone and I was afraid all the time.

And I’m an introvert. And no, it’s not the same thing as being shy. Being an introvert does not necessarily mean that you are shy. I just happen to be a shy introvert. And this is why my purpose matters.

(There’s another misnomer out there that I’d like to disspell. Being an introvert does not mean you aren’t confident. I’ll explore all of this with you in upcoming blog posts.)

If I can network and reap the benefits, you can too. It’s all learnable. It’s all achieveable. You just need to know the path to follow – and this is where I come in.

Everything in life is easy, once you know how. But if you don’t know how, you don’t know where to start and you don’t know why, well then it’s tough.

Growing in Confidence

What I can tell you for sure; if you grow in confidence, your business and your life will grow to reap all the due benefits and rewards.

I’m at the start of a journey to build a business. I’m loving the free aspect of this; the ability to design out my own office, the freedom to come and go as suits my requirements and around my family. Although, what I’m learning is that I have to unlearn past work habits – a story for another day.

I’m super excited about changing my future and designing it for me and for other ambitious people who are ready to upskill and invest in themselves.

I literally can’t wait to see what 2021 holds for me!

Random Thoughts

And what made me start writing this blog on random throughts for a Tuesday? Because I can certainly tell you it wasn’t on my radar or planned at all for today.

I came off a 1-2-1 call with a lovely lady that I’ve come across through my networking journeys. We actually crossed paths initially through some volunteering that we were both doing last year, and then as it happens, we were connected through a network.

Our conversation this morning was all about getting to know one another. While we have both been on calls, listened to the 60 seconds, we didn’t really know or get what the other did. So today, we started rectifying that and getting to know each other.

I won’t divulge names, but she told me of her initial networking fears, thoughts, experiences, overwhelm, anxiety and sheer panic at the start and even now, as she sets up her own business, she is not sure where to network, how to choose a network and why. I nattered on a few thoughts and put in the odd observation.

We discussed the process of identifying our ideal customers and what they might look like. We discussed value, growth mindset, expertise, our own identities and so much more.

What I loved about the conversation, in part, is that we are both starting our businesses and are at the very early stages. We are both passionate about what we are doing and the conversation really helped me validate my thoughts about where I want to bring my own business.

Networking brings you in to contact with amazing people.

My New Newsletter

My newsletter will be coming soon. If you’d like to sign up to it you can log on to www.networkingjean.ie/newsletter in order to register your email.

I’ll keep you posted on my deliberations on all things networking related. I’ll keep you posted on where I’m speaking, training, upcoming courses and I hope that the newsletter will become a central source for you to get updated on networking, where to network and how to network.

I’m always reachable on social media so if you’d like to connect, you’ll find me on Linkedin and Instagram.

I’m also on Twitter and Pinterest, if they are your go to platforms!