I have a friend who has twice asked me how I do it. Once he asked me how I know all the latest going on with the Inner Circle of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, & how I know all the guys so well. The second time he commented on how I know so many people, especially in the Pittsburgh metaphysical community. I have about 60 friends in Pittsburgh & many more Facebook contacts that I've never met or spoken with. I was kind of floored by the first question, for once at a loss for words. All I could come up with for an answer is that I make it my business to know what's going on with the Inner Circle & the Groundhog Club. It's my passion, & I think the world of the men in the Inner Circle. I like them, respect them, love having contact with them. I always go deeply into my passions, make it my business to know all I can about the subject, & the people involved. I watch people, listen well, participate. And I'm very assertive. I'm never aggressive, but I'm always assertive. I introduce myself to each new Inner Circle member, learn their names & faces, talk with them at every opportunity. I go up to them & welcome them. Whenever I encounter a member of the Inner Circle, I greet & speak with them, ask them about their families & businesses or whatever. I'm friendly & outgoing & don't wait for them to see me or speak to me. These men are very social, involved with & love the town, love to have contact with people. So I've become an insider over time. Most of them know my name. They all know my face at least, know they've seen me over & over, that I'm a regular, a participant. I don't just do Groundhog Club things, I participate in events in Punxsutawney & get involved. When I lived 40 minutes away before my move to Pittsburgh, I was a member of the art association there, even secretary. I was involved in the summer parade float, art shows & meetings, other community events. I went to Christmas open houses, local businesses, saw & was seen. When you do these things, put yourself out there, you develop more & more contacts & knowledge. So I'm known & liked in Punxsutawney & have some good friends there, as well as in Pittsburgh.
The answer to Pittsburgh is that again, I got deeply involved. I began coming to Reiki Exchanges, metaphysical classes, a metaphysical fair, & guided meditations in October of 2010. I came to Pittsburgh about 3 times a month for these things, sometimes more. I was an active participant, again. I reached out to others & shared, cared. I kept in touch with those I came to care about. I don't wait for people to contact me. I reach out to them regularly. As a result, it goes both ways. I have friends who reach out to me when they haven't heard from me in awhile, & with so many friends, I'm never without love coming my way, & contact. I receive emails, phone calls, etc. I get back what I give out. Most people don't have 50-60 friends period. I'm not talking acquaintances, I'm talking people who love & care about me to varying degrees, whom I care about. It's because I give & share, am outgoing, & maintain these relationships. It's also because I'm connecting with the right kind of heart-centered people. And this is what drew me to Pittsburgh. I have more going here than in Punxsutawney, which was the place of my heart. I met my soul family here in Pittsburgh through my Reiki Master's group of "followers."
I put myself out there all the time, with everyone. I simply love people, love helping them, care for them. Early this afternoon I met a young woman at the bus stop. She is transforming her life, ended up telling me a brief version of her life story, & I told mine. I gave her my card because she's the kind of person I love to help. She's already doing the work, & I can help her refine that. Whiners are those I cut lose as soon as I figure that out but I love to help people who are already helping themselves. I made sure she knew I won't charge her anything, because she's not one who can pay. The Universe will pay me, does. Already I carry with me the sweetness of all she said to me about how proud she is of me for the kind of person I am after what I've been through, how many become bitter instead of sweet, & how I'm changing my life. She's currently a stranger but she could tell, & that means a lot to me. I'm praying for a man I met outside before an interview with a staffing agency a few weeks ago. The payoff is, the more I give & care the more my heart expands & love comes my way too, all my emotional needs met. And there are cosmic payoffs I don't even see yet. It's that "pay it forward" thing. You often don't directly benefit from anyone you help other than feeling good, but you then benefit from others. The more you put yourself out there with & for others, the more rewards come your way. A friend is taking me to dinner one night this week, the same one who asked those questions. He takes me out fairly frequently, & is again giving me 18 days worth of canned cat food, a few days before I'd run out of the last 18 days worth he gave me. I do different things for him - coach him on things & sometimes do Reiki work on his cats & things. One new friend came & paid me a visit & bought us a pizza. I haven't done anything for her but talk with her, share some of my knowledge & did a card reading for her. She brought me a big bag of cat food too, a big box of kitty litter, a great toy for the cats, & kitty grass to plant for them! I took a friend to the dentist twice recently & he let me use his car for my errands & a job interview. The list goes on. I'm "down & out" these days in my circumstances & yet I'm so not because of the payoffs for caring for others as I do.
One of the biggest things I do to network is my daily angel & god & goddess work. If you read the blogs about it in December I think it was, you'll read about what I do. I wrote out the specifics. My day really begins during that time. I start with prayers, & have transformed my prayers as per the one blog last week, I think on Wednesday or Thursday. Now I thank God for doing things for me & others, healing & helping in our lives, instead of asking for His help. I'll let you know what I see as a result. Then I read my "I Am" statements & manifestation statements. Then I greet the angels & guides in my life, with love, & invite them to identify themselves to me as they help me, ask for a more personal relationship with each. (I actually need to do some meditations to facilitate that.) I want the same kind of relationship with them that I've developed with others here on earth. Then I do my angel work, as I think of it. As outlined back in December, I ask specific beings, angels & gods & goddesses, for help in specific areas. In this case, asking is all that's needed. They're poised & ready, but because of free will we have to ask. I feel the power of doing this each day. That's usually when I'm given the blog topic for the day. It's when I start to feel the energy I need to do get me through the tasks of the day, no matter what they are. It's when my full beliefs set in, of the goodness, energy, rewards. It's when my energy & power, love, belief, & faith jumps into high gear each day.
No man is an island, meaning no one is self-sufficient. We can be whole within ourselves, but we need community. Man is a community animal, a pack animal. No one person can do & be it all. I don't need any one person to be whole or functioning, but I need all the people who are fully in my life. You need to truly know yourself & be completely honest with yourself about your own strengths & weaknesses & needs. Then you need to put your strengths out there to help others & draw to you the ones who are strong in the ways you aren't, who can supply what you need. Someone dear to me just told me he's a great sales person but not a good businessman. I'm only a great sales person when it's something I truly love, like Tupperware. But I'm a great business woman, & I'm willing to help him. He needs help from someone with a great business head who's really good with people, & that's me. I know my strengths & weaknesses, & how to use my strengths fully to help myself & others. I seek those who are strong in the areas I'm not, & those who know more than I do. Mike Dooley talks about going to those who've accomplished & excelled at what you want to do successfully & ask them how they did it. Rightly, he says they're nice, & willing to share. That's one of the things I'm not afraid to do. That's part of how I put myself out there. It's a little like what I do with the Inner Circle guys. I'm not afraid or at all shy about asking questions & that's how I learn so much about what's going on.
So, the keys to networking effectively are this. Know your strengths & weaknesses so you can trade on your strengths to help others & call on others for help based on their strengths that aren't yours. Be assertive & outgoing. (If you are shy, you can still do this. It just takes more effort for you to do it. I was telling the same guy that he's got to step out of his comfort zone a little, really extend himself. If you always stay within your comfort zone, you'll keep going in the same circle, the same rut. You don't have to step way out but you have to regularly step out of it, in all areas. Whatever you restrict, refuse to open up to, will remain a block & a block in any area affects all areas of your life. I never step hugely out of my comfort zone but I regularly step out in baby steps & in bigger ones when necessary. It hasn't killed me! And the benefits are huge, have gotten me where I am.) Get involved, deeply - with others, & in your areas of interest. Get out there & take action. Draw others to yourself who have within them what you need, have in their lives what you need in yours. Ask those who have made it in whatever way you want to, how they've done it. Give of yourself often & regularly. Believe, set your intent, & take action. If you want more friends, set that intent & take action. Go out & be friendly, join a group of people that share your interests or needs, volunteer, whatever. This principle will apply to anything you want more of in your life. And definitely ask the angels for their help. We all have them.
The final piece of advice is to learn to consciously network in your life. I know who to call on when I have questions about anything mechanical. I ask for everything. I do all I can do on my own but I know my limitations & never hesitate to ask for help or advice. When I wrecked my car I had no experience with the decisions I had to make, so I called the one person I know who has lots of experience in that & got valuable advice. When you live as a networker, when you put that out there & live it, people give you recommendations all the time. I talk with people about things all the time. Before I moved I was at the post office & mentioned that I needed my washing machine repaired. The Postmaster had a relative who did that on the side, so for a lower cost. My landlord told me of someone who does washer & dryer repair when I found that my dryer is electric & there's only a gas hook up. He wasn't able to help me but I asked if he's able to get good deals on replacements & he is. People love to help by telling you of services they've used & service people they like. But if you don't talk, if you aren't friendly & outgoing, they won't know to give you these references. If you're someone who is friendly & consciously out there, you gain all kinds of knowledge either as soon as you need it, or you have it ahead of your need. Which brings me to Facebook. The same guy who wanted to know how I have so many friends & know so much is afraid of Facebook. He feels it's dangerous to personal security & privacy & is a huge waste of time. I personally use Facebook fully & never waste any time on it. I spend an average of 5 minutes a day on it, but use it fully. I see what my distant relatives are up to & my local friends, make a few comments as a way to keep in touch, & use it to network when I need local information or general information. I'm not worried about privacy issues because I'm as smart about that as I am about using my time with it. I don't put anything too personal on there, & I'm not paranoid about identity theft. If someone mentions my mother's maiden name I'm not worried about that being a common security question. I understand that no one is going to make the connection who then has access to anything that uses it. I also don't actually use her true maiden name for those questions, so that's another reason not to worry. I don't live my life from a place of fear so I'm not too cautious to get out there in the world. I use the social networking sites for just that & more, for all my networking needs. I use it, is the key. It doesn't waste my time - only I can waste my time. I have the control on that, including others wasting my time. I manage myself, my life, my time, my networking, & as much as possible, I don't allow myself or others to waste any of it. The opposite of fear is taking control & responsibility for yourself, your actions, & you life, & being proactive.
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