Hey there! Hope you all had a good week. This week both Michael and Juan will be discussing Networking! So go ahead and fill in your nametag, and start shaking some hands.

Michael is finally starting his masters thesis this next week, and at the same time will be starting at a company in Rotterdam as a Data Engineer. And starting to plan a trip to South Korea for May.

Juan is probably moving to Australia for 3 months in the winter. Why not.

We’re now wanting to start putting a stronger focus on our accountability groups. Last week Nirmay joined us and now we’re rebranding it as the Achieverz Club, you should check out the website we have here. We also started an Instagram page which we’ll be posting on daily.

Networking

Never Eat Alone

I’ve been reading this book called Never Eat Alone. by Keith Ferrazzi It tells us that success doesn’t come from hard work alone, but instead from who you know. It’s basically the phrase “Your Network is your Net-Worth” encapsulated. It gives an all-around guide to everything in networking. I’ll show you some of the main points that I felt were the most powerful.

Why Your Network is Important
People often hear the word Network and then immediately picture someone purely trying to get to know lots of different people for the potential for career advancement. But this is absolutely the wrong frame of mind to have around it. Networking is simply about getting to know more people, sometimes you can meet people who help you in your career growth, other times this can allow you to increase your personal growth, and it can often open you up to new life experiences. These are often mutually beneficial experiences, so drop the notion that it’s just the networker trying to get something out of people.

Building Your Network
You likely don’t want to meet just any random people, but rather people that are in a field that you are interested in. So if you want to meet entrepreneurs, actors, business people, or athletes, you have to seek out those types of people in a variety of ways. If anyone in your network already fits one of these categories, they will often know more people in their same field, so you can ask them to introduce you. You can find them via LinkedIn and reach out through there and plan a coffee chat or you can go to entrepreneurship forums, business networking groups, or conferences.

Maintaining Your Network
Once you meet people, make sure you keep in touch with them. Often times you’ll meet a lot of interesting people, and then you’ll never take the initiative to reach out again. Most people are like this, so don’t expect others to take that initiative for you.

Make a list of all the people in your network, your personal CRM. Label them:

• Close Contacts: Touch base every 1-2 months

• Broader Network: Reach out 2-4 times a year

• Occasional Contacts: Make sure you reach out at least once a year

Keep reaching out, try to keep your messages personalized, and you get bonus points if you congratulate them on their birthdays.

Keep these things in mind as you meet people from now on. And make sure you remember that this should be a fun process.

And now, to end with one of my favorite phrases:
“You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with”

— Michael

NETWORKING

The $15 Million Handshake: Mastering Networking with the World's Youngest CEO

At 23, Dan Fleyshman sold his company for $15 million and became the youngest founder of a publicly traded company in history. Since then he has become one of the greatest networkers in the world.

He recently did a podcast revealing his top tips on building and maintaining a network. They say your network is your net worth.

🤝 Say your full name when you introduce yourself

It’s a pattern interrupt. They probably meet dozens of people called Dan throughout the years. Don’t be just another number to them. Even if you have an exotic name, use your full name. You stand out more and they might recognise your name from that one time someone talked about you.

👁️ Look them in the eye when you shake their hand

It’s suprising how many people do not do this anymore. It shows confidence and that you pay attention to their presence.

🦜 Remember their name and say it back to them

Most of us forget peoples names immediately after hearing them. Make the effort to remember it. Write it down if you have to. Use it later in the conversation to appease them.

“A person's name is to them the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” - Dale Carnegie

📱 Save their number in a special way

After their name, add their City, Profession, and optionally where you met. Why? Because it allows you to reach out to them at a later date.

For example, say you met Greg the videographer in London. You can reach out to him for any of the following reasons:
- Next time someone needs a videographer
- You see an interesting article on videography
- Share a funny meme about London
- A new restaurant or event is opening in London and they should check it out.

These are all excuses to build rapport with people and let them know you are thinking about them.

🎉 Create your own events

This is probably the best way to meet many new people at the same time. When you invite people, they usually bring other people with them that you can meet and connect with.

If you are out of town, you can use your hotel lobby/rooftop/bar/restaurant as the meeting location.

🫵 Catching up with people individually

You can also use your hotel as a hub for meeting multiple people individually. Three days before you arrive, you can say:

“Hey, I’ll be in London this Friday evening through Sunday morning.
I’m having dinner at x hotel at 7pm, if you can to come.
If you’re busy, I’m having breakfast Saturday morning downstairs, Saturday afternoon I’m having a meet up from 1 - 4pm in the lobby near the bar. Then having brunch Sunday until 12pm before my flight.”

You give them 3-4 options. If they can’t go, then no worries. People are busy. But you still get brownie points for reaching out to them and letting them know you are thinking about them. Most people are selfish and won’t reach out to you unless you reach out to them.

“People are selfish because it’s easy. Being kind takes thought, reflection and action. Being an asshole takes no effort.” - Random Reddit user

— Juan

TAKING ACTION

Sign up to our Accountability Clubs

Want a community to keep you accountable? Willing to put your money where your mouth is? 😂

How it works:
💸 Everyone makes the same deposit at the beginning of the month.
✅ Every day you succeed, you get paid back a small amount from your deposit PLUS the money from others who failed that day.
❌ Every day you fail, your money for that day goes to people who succeed.
🗓️ It is 5 times a week. Month-to-month contract. You can join or leave at the beginning of each month.

April Clubs you can join:
🏋️ Exercise 5 times a week.
⏰ Wake up early during weekdays.
📵 Digital minimalism during weekdays.
📝 Signup to join for April

Updates from this week:

We want to start some new accountability groups! So if you have some ideas for what you’d like to be held accountable for getting done, let us know 😉.

Danae forgot to film one of her exercises for the day, so instead she gave us this great timelapse of her walking up 24 flights of stairs.

Highlights from Exercise Club: