The road to success does not have to be achieved alone. As a matter of fact, look around, you are not alone. And if you are, that can be changed with purposeful connections. Finding your purpose in your connections has high ROI. Unlike the classic networking routine, genuine connections has more depth. A genuine connection requires time, mutual interest, engaged interactions and trust. It takes a personal investment to build relationships, thus everyone is not willing to do so.
How do you attract the right people to your circle?
How can you genuinely connect with others to identify the bigger purpose and grow?
I mean, after all, it takes one right conversation with the right person to make great things happen. And who doesn’t want to make great things happen? Here are some tips to get you and the one of to a winning start to finding purpose in your connections:
- Offer the arm of kindness to everyone you meet. People will respond with the same (not all but most). This creates a mutual starting point of safety and respect. People are more prone to openness when they feel safe to share. The next time you meet or interact with anyone– online or in person– consider programming your mindset as if you’ll be meeting with a friend and see the difference.
- See the goodness in everyone you meet. Learn from them, right or wrong, there is always something to learn. And when you learn, you grow. When you open yourself up to others, it is easy to see your purpose in your connections. Remember, compassion is the core of empathy, and there’s nothing more moving than giving someone or yourself a generous dose of optimism.
- Walk the talk. To build genuine connections, you must first be true to yourself. You cannot demand something you are not willing to give. Simply put you can not receive sincerity and truthfulness from others when you do not embody the same. Let your positive mindset be an infectious motivation for others. When you do, it is also easy to attract the same level of optimism to truly build deeper (no-nonsense) connections.
- Always strive to listen for understanding, instead of listening with the intent to reply. When you increase your listening skills, your level of understanding equally increases. Accepting people for who they are becomes habit. It is a fact that no matter how purposeful your connections are, you will not have everything in common. It’s human nature to differ in opinion. The idea is to bind such a connection with respect and empathy to ensure the same level of camaraderie even during adversity.
- Learn to listen proactively. Understand carefully what the other says by asking questions and clarifying things which you find vague or dubious. This requires sharpening your communication skills by using your sense of hearing and all other senses. This is even more true today when technology and the Internet world can sometimes do more harm than good in building connections.
Without a doubt, building genuine connections uncovers a ton about you and others. Connecting more with others allows you to connect more with self, thus discovering more about your purpose. Connecting with others is essential to human existence as no one is meant to walk this journey alone. The idea, however, is to connect with the right ones and be able to create lasting and fruitful results.