📚 Introvert's Guide to Being Social, 3 Awesome Books, Heal Your Tendons, and more.

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👋 Hey everyone,

If you’re looking for a great book + summary, here are 3 you may have missed:

• “Wild Courage” by Jenny Wood.

• “The Let Them Theory” by Mel Robbins.

• “The Next Conversation” by Jefferson Fisher.

And congrats to Aleia F. for winning the 50-book giveaway and to Chris H. for winning the signed copy of “Inner Excellence” (I’ve emailed you both).

Stay tuned for more giveaways coming soon!

This week’s newsletter was made possible by Masters in Marketing:

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Download the report for free here.

⭐️ 3 Life Lessons:

Instead of a book summary this week, I’m sharing 3 lessons that can help you become more social and build better relationships.

1) Become A “Yes Man” For 7 Days

In the hilarious 2008 film “Yes Man”, actor Jim Carrey plays a man who is forced to say yes to everything.

I won’t spoil the film (it’s worth watching), but the summary is that by saying yes to every question that comes his way, he’s able to live a more exciting, meaningful, and happier life.

So for the next 7 days, make it a rule that you have to say “Yes” to any social or networking opportunity that comes your way:

• A friend asks if you want to hang out on a Tuesday?

• Coworker asks if you want to grab lunch tomorrow?

• LinkedIn message from a young kid asks for a virtual coffee?

Say “Yes” to all.

You can’t expect new opportunities to come your way if you keep the door to your life closed.

The beauty of this is that it only takes 1 connection to make it all worth it.

A few weeks ago, I was dreading going to a big conference because the idea of being surrounded by hundreds of strangers made my social anxiety skyrocket.

From the minute I got to the conference, I felt overwhelmed and anxious. Even though I was only wearing a t-shirt, I was sweating like I had just left the gym.

I stayed for a few of the talks, but about halfway through the conference, I was feeling drained and was on the verge of heading home.

However, I made a deal with myself that before I left, I had to meet at least one more person.

A few minutes later, I took a seat in the auditorium and waited for the next speaker to come on stage.

Someone took a seat right next to me, so I figured it was a good time to break the ice and meet someone new.

To my surprise, it was a bestselling author who had sold over 1 million books (true story)!

We then spent the next few minutes chatting about books and later exchanged numbers. We just made plans to grab dinner next month

One event can lead you to meeting a new best friend, a romantic partner, or a professional connection that can change the trajectory of your business.

You never know what amazing opportunities will come from saying “Yes.”

📖

2) Pre-Plan Your Conversations

This strategy is going to sound a bit crazy, but stick with me for a minute.

Before going to an event, you can usually see who’s coming by scanning the invite list on the event page or on the welcome email.

Here’s what you do next:

• Do a quick Google search of every person attending the event.

• Make a list of the most interesting people or people you’d like to connect with.

• Spend a few minutes looking at their LinkedIn or social media to see what current projects they’re working on or activities they’re interested in.

• Come up with 2-3 questions for each person so that if you bump into them at the event, you’ll be able to have a great conversation with them.

This way, you’ll be able to have an intelligent and interesting conversation instead of making small talk or fumbling over your words.

This is a wonderful strategy for building business relationships, but it also works well for romantic relationships.

Back when I was single, after every date, I’d spend 5-10 minutes writing down everything I learned about the person and a few questions to get to know them better.

Then a week later, I’d review the notes a few minutes before our next date so that I could prepare for the date and minimize the chances of there being an awkward silence during our date.

It may seem weird, but I’ve now been with my girlfriend for 4+ years, so I’ll let you be the judge of that.

📖

3) Bring a “Chris” to Your Next Event

If you aren’t extroverted, do the second-best thing: Bring an extroverted friend to the event.

Most events allow you to bring a plus one, but instead of bringing your partner or your introverted best friend, you want to bring a Chris.

My friend Chris might be the most extroverted person I know.

I’ve seen him make new friends within several minutes of landing in a country he’s never been in before. He’s blessed with the gift of gab, and it’s amazing to watch him connect with total strangers.

So when I got invited to a content creator event where I didn’t know anyone and couldn’t see the attendee list, I brought him with me.

Within five minutes of arriving at the event, Chris made friends with two guys. Ten minutes later, he had made friends with three more people.

Throughout the event, he went up to people, broke the ice with them, and managed the conversation so that I was included and the conversation flowed smoothly.

Interestingly, I’ve seen several other introverts use this exact strategy.

Recently, at a book launch party, I talked with an author who came with a woman.

At first, I thought the woman was his wife. But he soon clarified that she was a friend from his gym, and that he brought her because she worked in sales and could talk with anyone.

And sure enough, for the next hour, I saw her go from one person to the next, starting conversations with at least 10 different people.

You get to meet new people, and so does your extroverted friend. It’s a win-win for both sides.

So the next time you get invited to an event, consider bringing a Chris to join you.

✅ Actionable Advice:

1) For the next 7 days, say “Yes” to every connection and networking opportunity that comes your way.

2) Pre-plan your conversations: Make a list of the people you want to connect with at the event and prepare 2-3 questions for each person.

3) The next time you get invited to an event, bring your extroverted friend who can help you start conversations and meet new people.

💎 Weekly Gem:

Podcast: Simple Exercises That Can Repair Tendons and More — Dr. Keith Baar

This was a fascinating podcast with Dr. Baar, who has spent 20+ years researching ways to prevent injuries, accelerate recovery, and improve performance.

If you suffer from any nagging injuries, are recovering from surgery on your ankle, knee, shoulder, etc., or want to decrease the chances of seriously injuring yourself while playing a sport, you need to listen to this podcast.

The TL;DR is that doing simple isometric exercises like these will strengthen your tendons and ligaments and help you recover/prevent injuries.

Your opinion matters!

Please let me know what you think so I can create better emails for you.

Thank you for your support,

Alex W.