The one person you need to trust

Welcome to all of you who have joined in the past few weeks. I write weekly on insights and tactics around building an incredible network of clients, collaborators, and community.

There’s a difference between ending on time out of respect to the current and next meeting participants, and ending on time because if it goes another minute, you won’t be able to keep your eyes open any longer.

I often fell into the latter.

A large chunk of my time as a founder was spent meeting with people I “needed” to meet with. That feeling of obligation already set me up to struggle - it didn’t matter if I liked the other person or had a productive conversation if I felt I was dragging myself into it.

I’ve had the gift of time over the past few years to reflect on how I was showing up in work and life previously.

One area I’ve been tuning is my own intuition. Previously, I would be completely ignorant of what I was thinking or feeling - I was a meeting-email-todo-list completing machine.

Now I’m working on trusting myself. Especially when it comes to social interactions.

Taking Action

It’s an odd request, but trust me - it matters.

Pay attention to your own mood and emotion before you head into a conversation with someone.

If you’re really energized and excited, that’s telling you something.

If you’re dreading it, that’s telling you something too.

Some common reasons:

The time might be bad. I loathe morning meetings as that’s my “focus” time, and late afternoons tend to be extra low energy. Can you change your calendar?

You might not know what you’re talking about. Asking for or establishing an agenda can reduce any anxiety you may have.

You might not have a connection with that person. There’s not an easy answer, but surrounding yourself with people that are energy-increasing for you can only help.

Further Reading

My friend Michael Bungay Stanier just published a new book, out today - How to Work with (Almost) Anyone. I read an advanced copy and felt it pretty strongly aligned with everything we believe and talk about here. Recommend you give it a read!