The Power of the Network

For various reasons I have been a little bit of a loner for the majority of my life.  It's not that I never valued the company of others or thought others had no value to add to my life.  I just grew up a shy kid that often went my own way and had a very different perspective on life than those around me.  What I now realize is that I denied myself the opportunity to more sufficiently develop relationship building skills as a result.  All of my experiences this past year have made it more apparent how important it is to be able to relate to a diverse range of people and to find commonalities that allow them to relate to me as well.  It has also become crystal clear that relationship building and networking can have a profound impact on my professional life as well as personal.  Forging a new career path takes a lot of dedicated time and effort as well as connections.  Skills alone, unless they are incredibly rare and extraordinary, can't build a successful career.  

In the past I have been very guarded and to some extent hid myself, skills and talent included, away from the world.  Now I have begun to reverse life long social habits and expose myself to different social situations in order to have the best chance possible of reaching my goals.  It has been an uncomfortable process that continues to expose my vulnerabilities and challenge me to face my social fears, but the growth I'm experiencing is priceless.  It's also been enjoyable to get acclimated to new social circles and widen the makeup of my network.  Of course the professional opportunities associated with networking is a primary reason for this social endeavor, but growing into a more socially well-rounded person is an added benefit that makes meeting this challenge well worth it.  I have finally realized the power of a strong network and I'm building mine piece by piece in hopes that my long term career path will benefit as well as one day benefit others.