If there’s one thing that gets people down about networking at times, it’s that it can often be a frustrating experience. It’s not uncommon to spend weeks or months trying to network with someone, yet it just doesn’t come to fruition. More often than not, however, this has less to do about how you’re going about networking and more to do with the other person’s current workload or state of mind.
Networking Doesn’t Have to Stress You Out
If you’ve already been dealing with large amounts of stress throughout your networking career, you’re not alone. The good news, though, is that all of this is fixable. There are plenty of ways that you can stay optimistic when networking and not go overboard with your emotions. Consider the following tips, each of which will help you to maintain a positive attitude the next time you find yourself in a stressful situation.
1. Count Your Successes and Track Your Progress
Think back upon all the meals you’ve had in your life. While you might remember a few stand-outs, you’re definitely going to remember that one time you ended up with what might have been food poisoning. This is just one common example of how the mind tends to focus on the negatives rather than the positives, and it certainly applies to the art of networking. Counting your successes, however, is the best way to keep this type of negative thinking at bay. Sometimes you have to force yourself to look back at the progress you’ve made over the course of the past year or so to actually appreciate your networking skills – especially if you tend to be hard on yourself.
2. Don’t Take On More Than You Can Handle
Stress often comes as a direct result of a lack of organization, and it’s easy to see why. When you end up biting off more than you can chew, it’s often extremely difficult to keep things in order. For some reason, many professionals feel as if they need to tackle a variety of different tasks at once, when in reality they should be focusing on going after the big fish that they’ve been working on forming a connection with for a while. Everyone has their own techniques for networking, but it’s generally considered unwise to try to take on more than you can handle. If you’re well-organized, however, the amount of work you can take on can certainly increase.
3. Learn to Accept Rejection Gracefully
Everyone experiences rejection throughout different times of their lives. Whether it be related to a romantic relationship, a personal friendship or a business connection, rejection is simply a part of life. For some, however, it can be crushing. It’s important to remember that rejection is often a result of the other person’s issues, however – it’s not typically anything that can be controlled. Still, take your rejections with grace and reflect upon whether or not you could’ve done something different. Chances are you didn’t do anything wrong, but situations like this can certainly be great learning experiences.
So don’t let frustration get in the way of your networking results. For more tips on how to become a more effective networker, visit a Networking Austin meeting and introduce yourself!
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Original Source: https://www.networkingaustin.com/start-networking/3-ways-to-remain-optimistic-when-networking