You’ve probably heard statements like “you are as successful as the first 5 people in your circle of friends,” and “when your friends are successful, chances are you can become successful, too.” If you didn’t think these statements are accurate, sorry to burst your bubbles, but they are indeed true.
When you study the biography of any successful person, you will see how key relationships accelerated their growth.
You see, most successful people have more requests for their attention than they can reasonably grant. And in a world where everyone fights for his/her selfish interest alone, you can imagine how easy (and, of course, reasonable) it is for successful people to ignore the countless requests they receive daily. Truth be told, it does seem like a lot of work.
So, the question now is how can you attract successful people and make friends with them?
In this blog post, we’ll be sharing with you some tips on how to make friends with successful people.
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Do not ask for anything
Granted. You want to show that person alongside the rest of the world, that you are a talented individual who can make things happen in a particular industry, asking for a favor from the very beginning is a great way to ruin your chances of becoming friends with successful people.
Your reason for becoming friends with a successful person shouldn’t be because you want to use their influence to help you but because you admire their accomplishments and you want to benefit from interactions with the person behind the accomplishment, knowing for a fact that these interactions will enrich you and inspire you to accomplish things INDEPENDENTLY.
Again: Do not try to leverage on their fame.
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Become more valuable
You have to be constantly working on growing and improving yourself if you want to attract high-quality people into your life. Most importantly, learn to show respect to successful people’s work and acknowledge the value it has added to you. This means you recognize both their values and yours.
For instance, mention specific ways the works of successful people have influenced you (you shouldn’t dwell on it unnecessarily though).
If need be, offer suggestions and also share your own stories and work that are related to the conversation. (Note: Do not share stories just because you want to pride in them).
Remember, the goal of this friendship is to have a meaningful relationship of some sort. So you can only achieve this when there is a foundation of mutual respect.
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Put yourself in environments to attract the people you want
Once you know the kind of people that you want to attract into your life, the next question should be, “What kinds of environments do these people hang out in?”
Attending certain seminars, conferences and events can put you in the right spot to meet successful people. However, be sure to obey rule number 1 and 2 when you eventually meet them.
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Give something
As stated earlier, we live in a world where everyone looks out for himself alone. With countless number of people hoping to meet and become friends with successful people just like you are trying to do, how do you think you can stand out? Simple, give something.
Giving something shouldn’t come as a bribery attempt or any of such gimmicks. Instead, think of something that the person may want and give to him or her. Also, it is rude to expect that because you gave something; you are entitled to ask for something in return.
For instance, offering to help out with something that can promote the work of a successful person is a good place to start. Again, avoid doing any of these with a selfish intention. He/she can detect it and this can turn him off.
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Make your work visible
Without having to bore your soon-to-be friend with narratives of all the things you do, you can make your work easily accessible to him/her via social media channels and the like.
For instance, if you have a website or a blog, you can easily attach the link to your email so that they can go online to check out your works on their own accord, not you forcing it down their throat.
Thank you.