Just about the time you think you are important or more important than something or somebody, an event or person comes along and proves otherwise. Whatever makes this point to you, step back and consider if something is really all that important for you to take it so seriously.
In other words, know your role and place. Also consider that you shouldn’t sweat the small stuff, and as an elder probably said to you along the way, “it’s all small stuff.”
What got me thinking about this variation on the theme of “it’s not about you,” was the obituary of Terry “Tubesteak” Tracy, the inspiration for The Big Kahuna of the Gidget and all those surfing movies and TV shows of the 60s. A quote in the referenced story was what got my attention:
“He was the one who came up with the notion that having a good time on the beach wasn’t a byproduct of surfing, it was the whole deal.”
The same is with networking: it isn’t the whole deal. Your customers are “the whole deal.” Just because you are “surfing” around doesn’t make you important; it’s those people you encounter and turn into customers and contacts who are “the whole deal.”
It’s not about surfing, it’s about the good times that surfing was (is) a part of. And it’s not about you or the act of networking, it’s about the customer.
Relentless
