Challenge: Get up early and network!
Me, an early bird? Fuhgeddaboudit! Never in my life have I ever leapt joyfully out of bed with a song on my lips before the real birds are awake. Until today. Well, minus the joy and the song. IOW, I managed to get up early and make it to a breakfast networking event.
Early bird? Me?
This kind of behavior is entirely weird for me. Always has been. When I was in school, my mother — a happy, chirpy early bird — delighted in throwing open the door to my room at 6:30 a.m. and singing, “Good mooooorning! Rise and shine! Get up, get up, you sleepyhead!” Then she would grasp the windowshade, release it and let it flap, flap, flap loudly at the top. She greeted morning like a long-lost best friend. I didn’t, to say the least. One morning, while thrashing about to cover my head with the sheet, I accidentally kicked my dear mother in the head. Yes, it was accidental.
Theater hours used to suit me fine. Up by ten, in by noon, work a little, then get ready for the show, do the show, go to a bar ’til midnight or so, then do the same thing all over again. Perfect. Except I made zero money.
But theater hours are only a fond memory now. I need to get up and get out to network! Make connections! Get projects! Make money!
Amazingly, today I arose at 6:00 a.m. and appeared at a 7:30 breakfast event not far from home, with clothes on and everything. And I have another early networking thing on Thursday — this one about 20 minutes away — at 7:00 a.m.! Will I make it two days in the same week? Tune in Thursday and find out.
Someone at today’s breakfast (which I admit was quite productive) remarked that morning networking events were better than evening ones because anybody who got up that early was serious and not there simply to socialize.
I think that’s right. I had more good conversations this morning than at most evening networking events. So I’ll have to change my “system preferences” now, if I want to connect with the people most seriously interested in doing business. It might be worthwhile, despite the pain. Is it true that making money cures pain? I hope so.
