How This Can Be Your Year of Connection
All it takes is a bit of a shift
This particular post is being written in the middle of the year, 2021. But even if you are reading this post 10 or 15 years later, the same principles will apply.
In other words, you can turn any year into a year of connection. Here’s how you can get started.
The Kind of Connection that Matters
You have to first understand what is meant by connection, especially in the context of digital media and online connectivity. It starts with realizing that connection is not equal to connectivity.
The former talks about how you can build a deep and abiding relationship with the people who matter. The latter focuses on being in touch with as many people as possible, as quickly as possible.
For instance, I received an e-mail yesterday from one of my subscribers. In it, she mentioned that she started an Instagram account to keep in touch with me. But that’s not all. She went on to admit that she only follows one person — me.
In her opinion, social media was an endless rabbit hole and she wasn’t that keen to follow as many people as she possibly could. Because, if she did that, she’d end up being bombarded with notifications and updates from every single person. Instead, she wanted to focus on cultivating a sincere relationship with just one person.
With this act, she effectively achieved two goals — focused on improving her relationship with technology while connecting with the person who mattered to her the most, at this point in her life.
Cultivating Good Connections
How do you determine if a person is worth connecting with, over time?
That’s the secret — Time.
Most social media platforms and email marketing strategies are built on one principle — grow as quickly as you can and as big as you can. But in this surge towards numerical growth, a very important factor is ignored — connection.
In the middle of 2020, when I was all but ready to throw my business idea out the window, I came across the wisdom, kindness, and comforting words of my mentor George Kao.
Kao’s words were like a soothing balm to my feelings of overwhelm. Over the next six months, I did two things — unsubscribed from every single marketer’s newsletter that I’d been on for over 2 years and dove deep into the books, courses, videos, and the massive work of George Kao.
In my experience, the only way to drink deep from a stream is to do it to the sole exclusion of everything else. That’s when you can appreciate the essence that it contains.
How to Actually Connect with People
The truth about Connection is that it’s built on the foundation of two key components: Trust and Authenticity.
You should reach out to someone or follow their ideals only when the vibrations from their thoughts are in synchrony with yours. When this happens, naturally and without forcing it, you’d find it easier to connect with them.
If your intention is to truly learn more about a person, look at the work that they are doing outside of the spotlight. In other words, dive into their work that is not necessarily visible on social media.
Study their blog, pick up their books and listen to their podcasts (either the ones they run or where they’ve appeared as a guest). Is there harmony of thought, word, and deed in the content that they’re creating? Are their public personas aligned with their quiet, behind-the-scenes aura as well?
Next, tentatively send a note to connect with them. The ones who truly believe in connection will take the time to respond. That’s what happened with Kao.
I first came across Kao’s work when I read his thoughts on the idea of letting go of lead magnets in the space of email marketing. I immediately subscribed to his newsletter and sent him a query and he replied. It blew my mind!
Four months later, after I’d read all four of his books, watched a lot of his videos, and taken one of his courses, when I reached out to connect with him via Instagram and LinkedIn, he responded!
The way he did it assured me that it was him behind the screen and not a virtual assistant. How precious it is when people take the time to make you feel heard, acknowledged, and special. And I can attest to this with Kao — he does that with every single person who genuinely reaches out to him.
Benefits of Deep Connection
As entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, and business owners, cultivating connection can be a beautiful concept, if done with the right intentions.
Instead of looking at this as a stepping stone to opportunities or gateways to more income, see them for just what they are- connecting with another human being.
And when this happens, naturally, steadily, and organically, you will cherish those connections and keep them alive for years to come.
