Networking will improve your life

by Byron Woodson II

There is a long history of studies that say that the more friends you have the better your life is (of course, it's more exciting that way). There is also a long history of studies that say that people who have long, intimate relationships (as in good friends, not as in make a baby) with friends and family also live longer. To bolster that, we also know anecdotally that some older married couples pass away within months of each other, the first for some natural or terminal reason, the second 'of a broken heart'.

There was an article in the NYT about the relationship between friendship and health. The article cites a few studies that promote the notion that people with more friends live longer.

So, if not for financial success, leaving a legacy or for the love of it . . . network because it's good for your health.

The way to build a close circle of friends, both quickly and with less effort, is to become a network weaver a.k.a. netweaver. The difference between a networker and a netweaver is that a networker focuses on meeting people, while a netweaver focuses on introducing people. You can meet more people, have more friends and generate more business by introducing people to other people whom they haven't met before.

How do you do that?

One way is become the person around whom everyone convenes. This could be for 'the game' if you or your friends are sports fanatics, it could be a yearly barbecue, the family Thanksgiving, a quarterly potluck or any other occasion. The actual event is irrelevant, what is important is that you host and/or attend more parties, get togethers and 'soirees' than you currently do. You can only make friends by meeting people, not by watching netflix alone.

Hey it's friday, why don't you invite a few co-workers out for dinner after work, or a few friends over during the weekend?