✨ Here are three new ideas to help you cultivate more connection in your life this week ✨
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1️⃣ Stop "Networking" – Start Community Building
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If the word "networking" makes your skin crawl, you're not alone. The term has become loaded with expectations of forced small talk and transactional relationships. Here's the thing: you can drop it entirely. Not the activities, drop the word.
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Instead, think of it as community building. This reframe will help you approach it differently. Community building feels natural because it is natural. We've been doing it for centuries, long before "networking" entered our vocabulary in 1967.
When you focus on building genuine community around yourself and your work, you create the strong professional relationships you need without the artificial pressure. Community building is both an inherent human drive and a skill you can develop over time.
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The activities are the same, but the mindset shift changes everything. So if "networking" feels inauthentic, abandon the term and go about building meaningful connections in whatever way feels right to you.
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2️⃣ Consider Your Citizenship
Last week's National Volunteer Week in Australia highlighted something important to me: the personal and community value of contribution. But here's a question worth sitting with—what kind of citizenship are you planning for yourself and your business this year?
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This question, which I heard Courtney Tune ask at a goal planning session earlier this year, cuts deeper than typical business planning. How will you contribute to what matters to you? What role will you (or your business) play in your community?
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Not enough of us ask ourselves this question, let alone act on the answer. Yet this kind of intentional citizenship creates some of the most meaningful connections we can have, rooted in shared values and collective impact rather than individual gain.
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3️⃣ Go Local
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As I wrote this point during a major weather event last week, it served as a reminder: when systems and supply chains get disrupted, we turn to our local networks. But, are those networks well established, and are you supporting them enough during good times to make them robust enough to provide the community support that's needed during difficult times?
This is a question not just about local economic resilience—it's about community resilience.
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Here's a simple experiment: for the next week, imagine you have no internet access. Shop for essentials accordingly. Buy what you need from local businesses and organisations. Support the places and people you'd rely on if everything else became unavailable. Or pick one item you could buy locally to help support a local business.
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If more of us built this habit, our local supply chains and communities would be significantly stronger. Plus, you'll likely discover connections and resources you never knew existed.

Let me know your thoughts! Hit reply or leave a comment on LinkedIn.