One question I get asked at pretty much every conference or workshop I’m invited to speak at is, “How do I get to your level?”
I’ve answered that question more times than I could possibly count, and it is always with some variance of “you will get to where you need to be by being extraordinarily you.”
It’s true in every single journey I’ve witnessed and with every client I’ve coached.
I was speaking at a conference the other day when the question inevitably came again.
“But how do I get into your circles, Belinda?”
I was just tired enough to lose the filter ever so slightly, and I said, “I can’t answer that for you, but I *can* tell you what WON’T work.”
1. Being a jerk won’t work.
No one is interested in hanging around you if you’re always complaining, gossiping or stirring up crap. The most successful people I know who are enjoying lasting success do not tolerate it. If you have a chip on your shoulder, then work it out on your own time. Jerkiness is a poison that permeates, and successful people don’t do poison.
2. Being a creepy networker won’t work.
How do you know if you’re doing that? Well, if you’re handing me your card and looking over my shoulder to see if there’s anyone else more interesting in the room, then you’re a creepy networker. I am not a ladder. I am a person, and so are the successful people you want to know. Invest in relationships.
3. Avoiding the real work won’t work.
You know how you write a novel? You sit your hiney in the chair and write it one word at a time. You don’t wake up one day with a completed novel magically on your table.
You know to write a song? You sit your hiney in the chair and you labor over the lyric and melody until you can’t anymore.
How do you have a successful business? YES! You sit your hiney in the chair and you do the work one minute at a time. You don’t get to skip ahead. You have to build it.
..and that’s pretty much how I answered her. Don’t be a jerk, invest in people and do the work. I can’t tell you exactly where that will take you, but I *can* tell you it will get you there.