Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to stay in touch. While social media makes
Speaker 1: it easy to believe we are still in contact with
Speaker 1: people from the past, more personal approaches are better for
Speaker 1: truly keeping a relationship strong. Modern communication is often strange.
Speaker 1: There are a few folks who I have met once
Speaker 1: or twice over the years, and I have followed them
Speaker 1: on social media as you do, and I feel like
Speaker 1: we have stayed in touch. But then when I bother
Speaker 1: to look back, I see it has been years since
Speaker 1: the last email we have sent to each other. I
Speaker 1: wouldn't fault them for not remembering who on earth I
Speaker 1: was if all I'm doing is liking their posts. But
Speaker 1: what's funny about that is that reading all of their
Speaker 1: posts and such took a reasonable amount of time. It's
Speaker 1: just that that time wasn't actually invested in building the relationship.
Speaker 1: Since it is easy to not stay in touch, it
Speaker 1: helps to be a bit more systematic about it. No,
Speaker 1: you don't have to be too systematic. Perhaps you have
Speaker 1: folks in your life who unfailingly contact you. At the
Speaker 1: beginning of January the beginning of April, the beginning of July,
Speaker 1: and so forth. What's happened is they have probably created
Speaker 1: a schedule to reach out to everyone they know every
Speaker 1: ninety days, and that happens to be when your date
Speaker 1: comes up. It is kind of funny. But on the
Speaker 1: other hand, I will say that you probably remember these
Speaker 1: people's names. That's more than we can say for most
Speaker 1: of us. To perhaps feel a bit more authentic about
Speaker 1: the process, it's best to just carve out some time
Speaker 1: every week or ideally each day to reach out to people.
Speaker 1: My friend Molly Beck wrote a book about doing just that.
Speaker 1: It's called reach Out, and each weekday she reaches out
Speaker 1: to one new person. Not all of these messages come
Speaker 1: to anything, but some do. I was the target of
Speaker 1: a reach out in twenty thirteen and we have stayed
Speaker 1: in touch ever since. She was recently a guest on
Speaker 1: my other podcast, Best of Both Worlds. But it's not
Speaker 1: just about reaching out to new people. I think Molly
Speaker 1: would tell you that reaching out in order to stay
Speaker 1: in touch with existing contacts is one of the most
Speaker 1: efficient ways to do anything in this world. For instance,
Speaker 1: let's say you need to hire someone, especially if it's
Speaker 1: for the sort of job that people don't spend their
Speaker 1: whole lives doing. You probably have a wide pool of
Speaker 1: people you know who have worked with you in the past.
Speaker 1: If you have stayed in touch. That's how you can
Speaker 1: find someone you liked who might want to come back
Speaker 1: for a while. If you need to learn about a
Speaker 1: new topic or find a friend in a new town,
Speaker 1: the folks you've met in the past will be there
Speaker 1: to help out if you stay in touch. One way
Speaker 1: to stay in touch might be to use social media strategically.
Speaker 1: Follow people as you normally would, but whenever you see
Speaker 1: someone post something interesting, write a personal note to them
Speaker 1: about it. It will stand out more than it would
Speaker 1: in a slew of comments and likes. Occasionally scroll through
Speaker 1: lists of people you follow. If you haven't heard from
Speaker 1: someone in a while, and especially if they haven't been
Speaker 1: posting much, reach out to see what they are up to.
Speaker 1: Sometimes it helps to have a reason to make this
Speaker 1: feel authentic, but I am sure you can come up
Speaker 1: with one if you need to. Hey, I just saw
Speaker 1: John from our dorm last week and it reminded me
Speaker 1: to say hello. Or I just went to Puerto Rico
Speaker 1: last month and I remembered that trip you took there
Speaker 1: when we were first working together. This is not rocket science.
Speaker 1: You can do this if it helps you stay accountable.
Speaker 1: You can set this as a daily task, as Molly
Speaker 1: recommends doing, or write down the names of folks you've
Speaker 1: reached out to in a notebook. Make sure that some
Speaker 1: of your messages aren't just responses. You are initiating outgoing
Speaker 1: ones two and don't expect miracles overnight from just staying
Speaker 1: in touch. It helps to begin this discipline. When you
Speaker 1: don't actually need anything, you are just being sociable. You
Speaker 1: are just expressing interest in other people's lives. But when
Speaker 1: you do need something, you are not realizing that. Again,
Speaker 1: you haven't reached out to someone in six years, and
Speaker 1: by the way, they've closed that mailbox. Whoops. In the meantime,
Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to
Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook,
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod that's b E the
Speaker 1: number four then Breakfast Pod. You can also shoot me
Speaker 1: an email at Before Breakfast Podcast at iHeartMedia dot Com
Speaker 1: that before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters,
Speaker 1: thanks so much, should I look forward to staying in touch.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts
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