How have the people in your life helped you to accomplish your dreams?
When you think about your personal vision, who is the one person that could make your vision a reality?
It may not be a normal thing to think about because, in society, there is a lot of glamorization about being self-made and reaching success without anyone’s help. Although that’s an amazing accomplishment, it’s also the route that requires more energy, effort, frustration, and labor.
There’s an easier route to success, and it involves the people around you.
“It’s up to you to bring yourself to the attention of powerful people around you. They’re not going to find you on their own.”
– Richard Parsons
There is an ancient African proverb that says, “smart men learn from their own mistakes, wise men learn from the mistakes of others, and stupid men never learn.”
Our mistakes are lessons. Sometimes we learn immediately, and sometimes it takes a few rounds of the same mistakes for the lesson to stick in our minds finally.
Here’s where the importance of relationships comes into play. If you have access to someone who has been down a similar path as you desire to travel, asking them about their mistakes can teach you lessons without you having to experience the pain yourself.
The blessing of living in today’s world is that with social media and the abundance of communication platforms, almost every human is accessible.
This leads me back to the topic of today’s email, “you’re only one connection away from reaching your dreams.”
Now let’s make this practical; here are three ways to make a connection.
1. Ask for an Interview
One thing I’ve learned about successful people is that they often love to share their stories. They love to talk about what they know and show how knowledgeable they are in their respective area of expertise. If you can provide the medium for them to talk about themselves, that makes you a person of value.
Even if you don’t have a podcast or a blog, you can still ask for an interview by saying you are conducting a short study on a specific topic and would love to highlight them as a subject matter expert.
You can then say that you will be sending the study to major publications for the possibility of publishing. All of this is free. It just requires an investment of time.
Reaching out to someone this way is what’s called “leading with value.”
Many relationship-building experts recommend leading with value when reaching out to someone who may have a hectic schedule.
2. Ask for Coaching
If your dream connection offers coaching, this is a great way to pick their brain and get value from them. You’re already providing value by paying them, so the next step is for you to get value from them in return.
If you go this route, don’t be weird about it. You can be honest and say that you’re getting coaching just to get an hour or so of their time to help you get closer to your dreams. If the person is genuine, they will not bash you for your effort. They will applaud you.
3. Ask to Work for Free
This is another way to lead with value. Ask your dream connection to work for them for free. Be strategic with your ask by assessing the skills you possess and seeing what may provide the most value to the person.
It has to be a good offer for them to accept. But you never know, they may be so surprised at your request that they give you some of their time just for asking.
There are many ways to ask. You can send an email, a DM, a letter, or even a voicemail to their business phone number. You could also do all of the above. All of the information should be on the world’s most visited site – Google.
Don’t be intimated by the idea of reaching out to your dream connection. They are human. They put on their clothes every morning just like you do.
Remember, you’re always one connection away.
Keep going!
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