The other day I was invited to an event where a person whom I have known awhile back was apparently running a show and so he was reaching out to people in his network to possibly attend. I am usually fairly busy during those times, but at the same time I was really thinking if I could make it work. After doing some juggling I think I can make it work and so it will be great to catch up and hopefully provide the person with some support in his endeavors.
I think it’s important to remember to try and maintain contact with the people you have come across during your life while offering support when you can. Like everything else, it takes a bit of effort to maintain relationships versus just going to people when you need something. The assumption is you get along with these people and the stronger people are within your network the better as you never know when you may need that same type of support.
There were plenty of times where people I haven’t spoken to in years always seem to pop up when they only want to get something and after about three times without seeing them say support others the same way I personally feel that’s a sign of a bad relationship. That’s not to say you should always expect something back per se. But even for myself if I know someone went out of their way to support me I would actually try even harder to find ways to support them back. In my mind, connections feel more genuine that way when people actively want to help one another whenever they can. This is a business environment too where it’s more prone to have people simply focus on themselves primarily which means you really need to make sure the people you surround and support yourself with are genuine.