Or Why In-Person Networking Is So Important

If you are a solopreneur or small business owner, it may be very easy to get quite comfortable in your day-to-day routine. This leads to complacency, stagnancy and God knows what else. This is why it is so important to invest in yourself, your mind, your body, and your spirit by getting out of the house.

Let’s discuss the different ways you can do this and how they benefit you.

Your Spirit

Regardless of what religion they may associate with, most people believe in a spirit part of themselves. Some call this their higher self, others their soul. It doesn’t matter what you call it — it still needs nurturing. You can accomplish this in many ways:

• Attend church, temple, or whatever place of worship you prefer
• Meditate
• Take a walk in the park
• Play with your children
• Sit on a hill and silently watch the sunset with your partner or spouse

I hope you get the picture. Anyway, this benefits you on many levels. It creates balance in your life. It helps clear the clutter from your mind, if only briefly, allowing creativity to flow in. This is very important when you own a business because without that creativity you won’t be able to adjust to changes in the marketplace.

Your Body

A healthy body supports everything else. At present, I’m painfully aware of this. A few years ago, this month, I was pushing my grocery cart to my car, when a minivan decided to run into me. My tibia was fractured and my ACL sprained. It took me a little more than a year to be able to walk without a cane. Because I was forced into inactivity for such a long time, my weight increased and my back grew weak. Last June, I was playing with my dog and stepped wrongly. My back went into spasm. Things only got worse from there. At one point, I was in so much pain, I went to a doctor who insisted on giving me an injection for the pain. Well, the needle nicked my sciatic nerve. I lost the use of my right leg for a couple of weeks. After a few months, I was back to functional, but I still can’t drive a car because applying pressure to the brakes causes a lot of pain in my hip.

I’m not telling you this to bitch and moan. I’m telling you this to illustrate a point. My body is seriously cramping my style. I can do all the things I want to do because I have to impose on someone else to drive me there. I can’t stay on the computer as long as my mind wants me to, because my body says stop.

Don’t let this happen to you. Take care of your body. Eat right. Exercise within your limits (I sometimes overdo it). Do what you need to do to stay as healthy as you can. Don’t place a silly limit on yourself just because that cupcake looks so good you could eat two. Enough said.

Your Mind

This is key. You need to feed your mind a cornucopia of good stuff.

• Read widely — ezines, blog posts, books, magazines, and newspapers. Read outside your industry — you never know when you’ll come across an idea that you can apply to your own industry, and possibly be the first person to make the crossover.
• Soak up educational materials in other media — the news (I’m partial to BBC News and Countdown with Keith Olbermann), teleseminars, educational DVDs, and CDs. I load up my mp3 player and listen to teleseminars whenever I walk the dog.
• Attend local networking groups — join the Chamber of Commerce. If you’re a member of the Glazer-Kennedy Inner Circle, attend your local chapter meetings. There are sure to be plenty of other opportunities where you live: writers’ groups, business clubs, Toastmasters groups, etc. You can find some of these by checking out MeetUp.com.
• Attend a big seminar event at least once a year. This is an amazingly valuable investment. You get to feed your mind with good information and hang out with like-minded individuals. Here are a few I’m aware of that are coming up that might be worth checking out:
  • David Neagle’s X-Country Tour
    April 19 — Los Angeles
    May 3 — Houston
    June 7 — Baltimore
    A refundable $99 deposit is required — the event is essentially free, you get your deposit back when you show up
    More Info
  • Big Seminar 11
    April 25-27
    Atlanta, Georgia
    More Info
  • The 2008 SYSTEM Seminar
    May 30 – June 1
    Chicago
    More Info