Hi There, I’m one week into exploring Cadence, my 2022 Word of the Year, and multiple questions are bubbling up! Where does one begin to explore behaviors to better “pace” the controllable aspects of life? What changes shall I immediately employ to better serve myself— both today and in my older, wiser future? My first step was to treat myself as I would a coaching client: by asking questions for which I have no answers! To help me zoom IN, I asked myself some of my favorites: • What has been working well that I can further tweak to be even more effective, more joyful? • What is a long-term need that will be slow and difficult to change? • What urgently needs to change for the betterment of myself both today and in the long run? • How can I structure routine activities to be met with less resistance? • What is something that will be easy to change, having the effect of an instant win? Looking over these questions, my answer became clear. My first focus will be to enhance my cadence with my networking practice, impractical as this might seem during a pandemic (since meeting in-person and shaking hands are out of the question). Not only do networking events constitute as merely one dimension of networking, but they're the most difficult for us introverts to endure! Luckily, the aspect of networking I enjoy most is nurturing my network. I derive such pleasure in developing relationships with folks I aspire to be like. And I’m fortunate because I have built an impressive network! However, networking is tricky. It’s never the most urgent thing on our schedules, despite being the most important. So, by default, networking becomes the first thing that gets postponed, if it’s planned at all, when something seemingly urgent arises. Factor in that people aren’t sure HOW to network virtually, and what’s a driven professional to do? Well, I inadvertently started to build my new network cadence when the pandemic began. Can you believe that I’ve just counted 111 relationships I’ve been sustaining for almost two years now? My goal is to up my game for the others I determine to be essential to my network. If you’re interested in connecting consistently with your network, watch for next week’s DRIVEN message. I’ll share a couple of techniques that have worked for me to make this an effortless and fun way to use one’s time and energy. Cheers! -Deborah Deborah Goldstein DRIVEN Professionals / Forbes / Linkedin