NETWORKING: Fear Factor
For instance, The Lady of the House is Jewish and I am Catholic. I've never been a Christmas person, and for obvious reasons, neither has she. We do, however, minorly celebrate both Chanukkah and Christmas. In short, neither of us particularly cares for the Holiday Season.
Additionally, The Lady of the House is not a big fan of socializing in groups larger than three or four. She's an excellent public speaker, but, like many, she fears it. She's also an excellent conversationalist, but gets butterflies when she's faced with mixing and mingling.
As a result, she'd rather beg out of networking - particularly during the Holidays.
It's a fear thing, of course. She has a fear factor of groups and she has a fear factor of attending "Holiday" parties - only to find out that they're "Christmas" parties. And, because I belong to several organizations, I'm invited to quite a few parties during the Holidays.
As mentioned above, The Lady of the House would rather beg out of going because of her fear factor. But she doesn't. She faces her fear factor and attends these gatherings with me.
How does she do it? How does she face her fear factors and act like she doesn't have them?
I asked The Lady of the House about it just before Thanksgiving. She told me that she "puts on (her) game face" beforehand. Simply put, she ignores her fear factors until we get back in the car to go home.
At first, I thought that sounded a little too simplistic. But she pointed out that everybody ignores their fear factors. She said that even though I'm deathly afraid of heights, I go onto the roof of our house to clean gutters, patch leaks and clear debris. She (correctly) noted that the only way I can do that is by ignoring my fear until afterwards.
If you have a fear of networking - or networking during the Holidays - then ignore that fear. Get out there and network. This is the best season for it.
And, if you're anything like The Lady of the House and I, you can deal with the fear afterwards, too.
If you fear networking, what coping techniques do you use? Be sure to answer in the comments.
NEXT TUESDAY: Your Holiday Branding Efforts
Check out last Tuesday's posts:
NETWORKING: Social Networking During the Holidays
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