The people in our lives, and the quality of those connections, matters. For instance, there are important relationships in your life that can assist with achieving your goals. And if you’re looking to accelerate the success of your critical goals, then put a relationship action plan (RAP) around that goal, said U.S. author and entrepreneur Keith Ferrazzi, in his 2023 MDRT EDGE presentation.
To supercharge your goals with a RAP, Ferrazzi said you should do the following:
Focus
The first thing you need to do is focus and be clear about what your goals are.
Target
Who are the individuals who can help you with your goals, and what is the quality of your relationship with them? You may determine you need to work on your relationship with some people so they can assist with your goals.
Ferrazzi suggests scoring relationships from zero to five, with zero being you don’t know them yet and a four and above representing a friend. “Who are the individuals around this goal who I would love to know, aspire to know? I write those names down, and ironically, when you write a name down, they begin to manifest,” Ferrazzi said.
“The other thing I would do is prioritize all the names A, B and C. If someone’s an A, then you want to move that person to at least a four,” Ferrazzi said.
Define and align
Next, you need to define what you can do for the people you’re targeting. How do you define your currency, and how can you be a benefit to them? Also, who are your partners? “We all need channel partners with our critical relationships,” Ferrazzi said.
Reach out
This is where you get clever, Ferrazzi said. There are meetings and events, but you can go beyond that by reaching out to people on holidays or birthdays, or checking on them after other important life events, such as major medical tests.
In communication, “It’s so important that we open a space for vulnerability,” Ferrazzi said. If your communication with people stays transactional or prideful, you won’t engage with them on the level of friendship. “The golden key is that vulnerability, that empathy, that authenticity that gets created,” he said.
This was excerpted from Ferrazzi’s 2023 MDRT EDGE presentation. (MDRT member-exclusive content) Ferrazzi’s book “Never Eat Alone” is an MDRT book club favorite. Learn more about MDRT’s meetings.
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