Create the Network for the Future You Want Now
We now live in a connection economy. Connections are more important than ever before, but networking is broken.
Your whole life you grow up with heavily structured social networks. You’re in school. You’re participating in sports and extracurricular activities. Then, you head off to college where there are fraternities, sororities, and all other forms of social groups.
Next you make it to the real world and begin working. After you begin working, you realize that there are no social groups or supporting structures to add to the mix any more. What happened? Everything from this point forward seems half-baked and ineffective.
This is even more true if you’re an entrepreneur, a freelancer, or if you’re telecommuting. One of the hardest parts of this work is the isolation of working alone.
I thought working from home would be all great until I tried it. I realized I had to personally create some support systems to balance isolation with social activities.
I would find myself signing up for classes and events in advance (so I couldn’t opt out). I would peruse shared co-working space prices (like WeWork) to find out they’re actually somewhat expensive.
When you do go to a networking event, you end up with a bunch of business cards that aren’t very meaningful. Everyone wants something out of you but no one aims to make a meaningful connection.
Life seemed like it was missing something big. Something important. It was missing the social groups. Not just social groups of any kind but a tribe. A group of individuals dedicated to chasing their ambitions.
If you want to form a group of yoga fanatics, you sign up for a yoga class. If you want a group of drinkers, you sign up for pub crawls and you frequent night clubs. If you want a group of doers, of people who hold you accountable for your actions, dreams, and discoveries, this group didn’t exist. So we’re forming one.
We’re making a group of Wildcards, people who chase their ambitions. A cohort of some of the most driven individuals to drive goals and progress even further. Entrepreneurs, professionals, and anyone else who strives to create the world of tomorrow. We’re creating a group that feeds off its own energy. Our aim is to meet in-person and launch in major cities around the U.S.
“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” — Mark Twain
Why Not Form an Exclusively Online Group?
Why do online courses have a 95% drop out rate on average? Because no one is present to see people fail or hold them accountable. It’s you and the course. There are endless distractions when you’re alone.
If you’re taking a college course where you have to show up in-person to attend and present various projects, you’ll be much more inclined to try harder.
Social pressure is useful in the sense that it holds people accountable, creates competition, and it enables us to become the best version of ourself.
I’ve found immense value in social accountability. If you want to start a business, finish a course, or change your career path, you can now join a group of people dedicated to making the best versions of each other.
When networking is done right, it’s meaningful, it’s powerful, it’s impactful. Great networking is why people pay exorbitant fees to go to ivy league colleges.
It’s why people force themselves outside of their comfort zones to have a chance at 10x’ing their current trajectory. It produces disproportionate returns and it’s the reason why your friend’s dad works at a hedge fund with no college degree.
Lastly, Wildcard is not about networking.
Networking is boring, it feels unnatural and forced.
Wildcard is about creating relationships and connections that matter, everywhere.
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