Networking for Introverts

Rob May at Businesspundit offers the following tips for introverts—those of us who restore our psychic energy with solitude rather than by schmoozing. I'm editing the tips on his list, then adding a few of my own:

• Don’t spend too much time on it.
• Do cool things. Don't network just for the sake of networking.
  
• Network with a friend. An extroverted friend can introduce you to folks; you and an introverted friend can challenge each other to see how many people you can talk to in a given time frame.
• Always go knowing what you want to get out of the experience—tips? advice? feedback?
• Always go with something to give—a business or job lead, a referral, etc.
  
• Analyze your results. You have permission to drop things that aren't working after a reasonable amount of time.

Do you have favorite networking tips? Please let us know, regardless if they're for introverts or extroverts!

10 Ways to Break Through Your Work Life

Ready for a breakthrough? Lifehack offers 10 tips for creating a breakthrough in your working life. One of my favorites is "Make mistakes joyfully."

This is a startling concept for a girl who had a Catholic school education. Mistakes? They were the equivalent of mortal sins.

But as the Lifehack poster writes—and I think it's true—"The person who’s afraid to make a mistake is afraid to make anything. You won’t get it right first time. You probably still won’t get it right the third, fifth or tenth time. But if you keep trying—joyfully making those mistakes and learning more each time—you will get it right in the end."

Amen and hallelujah.