WEBVTT - Aim to leave as a smarter person

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is to aim to leave any gathering as

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<v Speaker 1>a smarter person. This mindset is far more helpful than

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<v Speaker 1>aiming to leave a certain impression or aiming to accomplish

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<v Speaker 1>a particular networking goal. It is absolutely doable and can

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<v Speaker 1>change the entire experience of an event. Today's tip, like

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<v Speaker 1>a few we covered a few weeks ago, comes from

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<v Speaker 1>Amantha Ember's new book time Wise. This book covers strategies

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<v Speaker 1>from various experts and successful people on how they work

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<v Speaker 1>well and create more time for fun. One of these

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<v Speaker 1>tips is labeled stop trying to be the smartest person

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<v Speaker 1>in the room. Now, you personally might not be going

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<v Speaker 1>into any gathering bragging about yourself as the smartest person

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<v Speaker 1>in the room, but I would say that most of

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<v Speaker 1>us don't want to appear dumb, and that mindset affects

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<v Speaker 1>how we act. Amantha interviewed an entrepreneur named Scien Tad

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<v Speaker 1>who started a very successful company, but found herself deferring

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<v Speaker 1>to people who would tell her various things because she

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<v Speaker 1>assumed they knew better and she didn't know as much,

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<v Speaker 1>and she didn't want to be found out as not

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<v Speaker 1>knowing things. Needless to say, this didn't always work well,

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<v Speaker 1>as people made bad decisions that she could have redirected

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<v Speaker 1>if she'd spent some time thinking about it and asking

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<v Speaker 1>better questions. Tad said she realized that she worried about

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<v Speaker 1>asking questions that might make her seem stupid. I needed

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<v Speaker 1>to shift my thinking from wanting to seem like the

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<v Speaker 1>smartest person in the room to wanting to leave the

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<v Speaker 1>room being the smartest person. And it meant that I

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<v Speaker 1>needed to ask questions constantly, and I needed to not

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<v Speaker 1>care whether it made me look like an idiot, even

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<v Speaker 1>in stakes where we don't need to ask important business

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<v Speaker 1>defining questions. I think this mindset of aiming to leave

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<v Speaker 1>a gathering smarter than when you went in is important

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<v Speaker 1>if you are going to a networking event, for instance,

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<v Speaker 1>Rather than worrying about whether everyone thinks you are accomplished

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<v Speaker 1>and smart, go in with the goal to learn something,

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<v Speaker 1>figure out how someone else's business works, be introduced to

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<v Speaker 1>a new topic, learn about a book you should read

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<v Speaker 1>or a podcast you should listen to. Let people refer

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<v Speaker 1>you to others who know a lot about something that

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<v Speaker 1>you want to know more about. The upside of going

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<v Speaker 1>in with this goal is that it is incredibly doable.

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<v Speaker 1>We can always learn something if nothing else. You can

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<v Speaker 1>leave a gathering with a restaurant recommendation and thus be

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<v Speaker 1>smarter about the local food scene. But if you go

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<v Speaker 1>in hoping to learn more professionally, people will want to

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<v Speaker 1>share knowledge with you. They will want to introduce people

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<v Speaker 1>in ideas to you. Whereas when you go in with

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<v Speaker 1>the goal of making people think certain things about you,

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<v Speaker 1>that pushes the information flow in a different direction. You

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<v Speaker 1>are less open and receptive, and that limits how much

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<v Speaker 1>you can gain from an event. Now, I won't go

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<v Speaker 1>as far as to say that any question is okay

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<v Speaker 1>if I have specifically asked for someone's time, I think

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<v Speaker 1>it is important to invest the time in preparation so

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<v Speaker 1>I know enough about them and their business and whatever

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<v Speaker 1>I want to learn from them that I ask good questions.

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<v Speaker 1>But in most regular networking gatherings this isn't necessarily the case.

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<v Speaker 1>We are all approaching the gathering from the perspective of

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<v Speaker 1>wanting to meet people and get something out of the event.

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<v Speaker 1>Going in with the goal of getting more knowledge means

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<v Speaker 1>you are highly likely to do that and people will

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<v Speaker 1>be quite open to helping you out in the meantime.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Thanks for listening and here's to making

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<v Speaker 1>the move of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to

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<v Speaker 1>hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

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<v Speaker 1>or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook

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<v Speaker 1>and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's B the number four,

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<v Speaker 1>then Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me

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<v Speaker 1>an email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeart media dot

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<v Speaker 1>com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio. For

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