*People you know
It may not seem intuitive, but your immediate circle of contacts is a great way to meet like-minded people. Have you heard of the 6-degrees of separation? It’s the idea that anyone on Earth is connected to each other via 6 degrees of contact, or less. In fact, with the internet, it’s probably less than 6 degrees. How does this idea help you meet like-minded people? Firstly, if your friends have similar interests as you, they probably know many other people who have the same interests too, since birds of the same feather tend to flock together. Secondly, even if they don’t share your interests, they might know someone who does. Even beyond that, word of mouth is an excellent referral tool – by just asking around and extending to 2nd degree, or 3rd degree contacts, you might find yourself a list of like-minded new friends.
It may not seem intuitive, but your immediate circle of contacts is a great way to meet like-minded people. Have you heard of the 6-degrees of separation? It’s the idea that anyone on Earth is connected to each other via 6 degrees of contact, or less. In fact, with the internet, it’s probably less than 6 degrees. How does this idea help you meet like-minded people? Firstly, if your friends have similar interests as you, they probably know many other people who have the same interests too, since birds of the same feather tend to flock together. Secondly, even if they don’t share your interests, they might know someone who does. Even beyond that, word of mouth is an excellent referral tool – by just asking around and extending to 2nd degree, or 3rd degree contacts, you might find yourself a list of like-minded new friends.
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Your Workplace
The second place which most people overlook is their workplace (or school, if you’re studying). This is applicable if you’re in a career that you enjoy, and a company which you like. Why do I say so? Every company, especially long-standing ones, have a regimented set of recruitment criteria, which includes certain personality traits and hard skills. For you and others to be recruited in the same company, that means all of you share core similarities. Not only that, being part of the same company means you’re part of a bigger culture, sharing same knowledge and thinking patterns (to a degree).
The second place which most people overlook is their workplace (or school, if you’re studying). This is applicable if you’re in a career that you enjoy, and a company which you like. Why do I say so? Every company, especially long-standing ones, have a regimented set of recruitment criteria, which includes certain personality traits and hard skills. For you and others to be recruited in the same company, that means all of you share core similarities. Not only that, being part of the same company means you’re part of a bigger culture, sharing same knowledge and thinking patterns (to a degree).
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Clubs and Communities
Existing clubs and communities are a great way to quickly meet like-minded individuals. See each community as a central hub that attracts people with the same interests. For example, a writers club would attract people who are interested in writing, whether on a recreational or professional level. Online forums and communities on Linked in and Facebook are a great way to start off. Offline communities will include meet-up groups, recreational clubs, interest groups, related classes and membership societies. I took up Japanese as a third language when I was in school and later when I graduated, and each time I met a group of people who were passionate about Japanese language, its culture and also anime. It was fun connecting on a deep level on those areas, where the regular person wouldn’t know much about them.
Existing clubs and communities are a great way to quickly meet like-minded individuals. See each community as a central hub that attracts people with the same interests. For example, a writers club would attract people who are interested in writing, whether on a recreational or professional level. Online forums and communities on Linked in and Facebook are a great way to start off. Offline communities will include meet-up groups, recreational clubs, interest groups, related classes and membership societies. I took up Japanese as a third language when I was in school and later when I graduated, and each time I met a group of people who were passionate about Japanese language, its culture and also anime. It was fun connecting on a deep level on those areas, where the regular person wouldn’t know much about them.
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Start a blog
This one isn’t exactly instant, and it’s probably not a tip most people will use, but it definitely works. While it started off with 0 readers (as with all websites), it quickly grew. With each person that visited the blog, the ones who were interested in personal growth and conscious living stayed on and subscribed to the newsletter. Many of them would silently read my articles, while a small handful would reach out to connect, via the comments, email, Facebook or Twitter.
This one isn’t exactly instant, and it’s probably not a tip most people will use, but it definitely works. While it started off with 0 readers (as with all websites), it quickly grew. With each person that visited the blog, the ones who were interested in personal growth and conscious living stayed on and subscribed to the newsletter. Many of them would silently read my articles, while a small handful would reach out to connect, via the comments, email, Facebook or Twitter.
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Networking events/Meet-Ups
I’ve been to a number of networking events and some of them can be quite pointless, degenerating into empty mingling and name card exchanging. However, there are valuable networking events out there, and it’s about picking the ones that meet your needs. Different networking events attract different audiences, so carefully choose the ones that you go to. What are the kind of people you are interested in? Who are the people you’d like to meet? Pick the events most relevant to them.
I’ve been to a number of networking events and some of them can be quite pointless, degenerating into empty mingling and name card exchanging. However, there are valuable networking events out there, and it’s about picking the ones that meet your needs. Different networking events attract different audiences, so carefully choose the ones that you go to. What are the kind of people you are interested in? Who are the people you’d like to meet? Pick the events most relevant to them.
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Attend a related workshop/seminar
A workshop or seminar is essentially a gathering of like-minded individuals who wish to achieve a common objective. Else, the individuals wouldn’t invest time or money in the workshop. Check out the workshops out there, whether on the internet, online communities or newspapers. If you’re reading Dumb Little Man, you are probably interested in personal development. There are many hundreds of high quality self-help workshops out there – simply attending to any one will allow you to meet other people who are passionate about personal development as well. I’ve only attended a couple of self-help workshops to date, and just from the workshops alone I’ve befriended over 30 like-minded individuals and have developed great relationships with a number of them.
A workshop or seminar is essentially a gathering of like-minded individuals who wish to achieve a common objective. Else, the individuals wouldn’t invest time or money in the workshop. Check out the workshops out there, whether on the internet, online communities or newspapers. If you’re reading Dumb Little Man, you are probably interested in personal development. There are many hundreds of high quality self-help workshops out there – simply attending to any one will allow you to meet other people who are passionate about personal development as well. I’ve only attended a couple of self-help workshops to date, and just from the workshops alone I’ve befriended over 30 like-minded individuals and have developed great relationships with a number of them.
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Reaching out to them
Direct, 1-1 contact is a targeted and efficient approach. With social media and internet today, it’s now extremely easy to do this.
Direct, 1-1 contact is a targeted and efficient approach. With social media and internet today, it’s now extremely easy to do this.
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Linked in: You can search within a certain industry or
specialization, which will bring up a select group of people. After that, you
can read more about their profiles and connect with each individual on a
personal level.
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Facebook: Browse interest groups and check out members in the
groups.
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Blogs: Check out blogs on topics of your interest. See if the writer
is someone you’ll be interested to connect with.
