Actual facebook user's connection cloud, see the nodes??
Meeting Aaron
When I first moved to Japan I was ecstatic about the new surroundings. I remember being in tears at the grocery store because I couldn’t recognize some of the strange three foot long tentacled critters in the seafood section. The wanderlust in my personality was overwhelmingly satisfied and for a while it over shadowed my desire to meet someone. But… after about six months I was extremely lonely, my social network consisted of ten somewhat unfriendly people that could speak English (the unfriendly part was probably my fault). I understood that the best way to meet people was though other people but I couldn’t speak Japanese, what could I do?? This is about the time I met Aaron. Aaron grew up in Japan and was so fluent that on the phone no one was the wiser. Aaron was what Malcolm Gladwell in his book The Tipping Point would call a connector or a node. Not only did he know all of the foreigners but because of his language ability he knew all the Japanese people. After meeting Aaron my social life exploded and a girlfriend soon followed.
Power of networking
Today I got a letter from my internet stock brokerage saying they now are on Facebook and Twitter and I should join them there! What’s next? Is my gym going to twitter me that I have not been in lately?? The Internet is experiencing an explosion of social networking. Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin are all in a race to network the globe. Why so important? Many many businesses have experienced explosive exponential viral growth from social networking. In other words being well connected equals big bucks.
Life networks
99% of the people you have met or meet that have any impact in your life you have met through a social network. What is a social network? Simple, school, job, church friends, bowling league, etc. These groups are what have led you to your past current and future boyfriend/girlfriend. What if you could supercharge this? What if you could be plugged into the social scene without having it dominate your life. What if you could meet tons of amazing people with very little effort on your part?
Meeting a node
When I first met Aaron in Japan I didn’t realize what he was, I was so happy just to meet someone new. Aaron was what social scientists call a node or a connector. Aaron was the social glue that links so many people together. After meeting Aaron suddenly my social network grew by hundreds of people. I am a bit of node… but nothing like Aaron and I honestly have no desire to become like him! I imagine that you are not a node either but I am sure you know one. These people are the key to your future, they know all of the people that you need to know. Imagine if you could connect to not only one but many of these nodes! Suddenly the amount of people you potentially know would be catapulted from the hundreds into the thousands.
What a node/social network does for you
Have you experienced the social misery of cold calling? Or been on the receiving end when John the college student called to sell you a newspaper… at eight in the morning… on a Sunday… Ass…. Hole… This is very much what it is like walking up to an attractive stranger. “Hey I just noticed you are cute! Oh.. you’re married? Sorry about that! Wow, (nervous laugh) am I a douche bag!” If you do this you are cold calling the opposite sex. Not very good odds. This is the magic of belonging to a network or having a node as a friend. You are instantly FILTERED as being okay… Not only that but so is everyone else. You can count on the fact that 99% of the people that know “Nathan the node” are cool people. Instantly you are put into a warm market of potential boy/girl friends. This is why bars are such cold places. There is no social filter, any moron/bimbo can walk in and drunkenly hit on you. Bars are good for two things, having fun with friends or finding a one night stand.
Upshot
Got your image of the perfect person in mind? If not you need to be clear before you even step out the door, read this post. Once you have a clear image start joining social networks even as simple as Salsa lessons at a city college or a Snowboard club (join what you love). Anything is okay as long as there is interaction, Starbucks does not count. Once you have joined, allow a node to come find you, which is after all their job! Through this person you are going to be introduced to tons of others. If you have the image of the perfect person in your mind I promise you that they will be met in short order.
“I’ve found that luck is quite predictable. If you want more luck, take more chances. Be more active. Show up more often.” –Brian Tracy
- Energy draws amazing people, get the heck out there!
- You are never on an island if you know the right people
- You met your best friend the same way you will meet a great guy, do more of that
- Don’t underestimate a node, they are rare but POWERFUL
Step #10 Is it okay to chase a guy??
{ 2 trackbacks }
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I so agree, I have met one great friend and I would call him a node too, he knows a lot of people and practically has doors to like everything.
I know for one my friend circle did not expand for a while since I wasn’t going out but thats because I had other obligpeations.
However the other thing to point out is not everyone likes a large group of friends, some prefer a small group.
Also, the type of friends usually reflect the type of person you become, so be careful with that.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I found something interesting about nodes only recently. You mentioned that you weren’t going out because you had many obligations. Well I have fallen into the same situation and thank god for the connectors in my life. If it was not for them I would fall off the planet.
These people are so good at keeping us in the loop and I am actively looking for more of them. Great people to know
Hey I found your website through google and this is really interesting. Can you talk more about how to network and meet nodes?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I really would like to! the unfortunate part is that particular entry didn’t get the traffic I had hoped so I am a bit reluctant to repeat it!
Thanks for coming by though and you can ask me direct questions if you like