Why Mastering Authentic Networking Wasn’t For Me (But May Be For You)

Last Updated on February 13, 2022 by Kari

The latest quest from Mindvalley was Mastering Authentic Networking by Keith Ferrazzi. I think this quest was supposed to come out earlier this year, but because of the pandemic and quarantining, networking in person wasn’t even possible, so Mindvalley had said they were pushing the quest’s release to a later date. It was released on July 12th, and I finished it on August 1st. I can say that while Keith Ferrazzi is obviously a master in networking, this was one Mindvalley quest that doesn’t fit me right now.

What Mastering Authentic Networking Is About

If I were to sum it up, I would say that Keith Ferrazzi teaches you how to build important relationships and then manage them.

He highlights the importance of certain relationships in your life and what they can do for your entire life and the life of everyone around you. And he helps you build a plan to create these relationships and manage them.

He helps you recognize people who can impact your life and the lives around you in a positive way and then engage with those people in an authentic way that fosters strong relationships that will serve you well now and in the future.

That’s what Mastering Authentic Networking is really all about. And Keith Ferrazzi does a really good job of teaching you how to do that.

Mastering Authentic Networking Includes A Lot Of Tasks

If you are interested in Mastering Authentic Networking, know that it’s not a quest where you will just be learning. There’s a lot to do.

Keith Ferrazzi lays out a roadmap for finding relationships, building them, and managing them, and at each stop, you need to do things to move on along the map.

Following Keith Ferrazzi’s advice, you will need to do things like:

• Identify your limiting belief system around networking.
• Identify people who are going to help you achieve success.
• Build relationship plans to engage people and foster relationships.
• Prepare outreach and meeting strategies.
• Research people for engaging them more authentically and effectively.
• Find someone from your Mastering Authentic Tribe or somewhere else and go over your strategies with them.
• Build your personal brand.
• Find conferences that you want to attend and build a plan of action going into them.

And much more.

In other words, there’s much more to Mastering Authentic Networking than sitting back and learning something.

This networking quest requires you to be very interactive and take action with other people, which makes total sense because it’s about networking!

Keith Ferrazzi is obviously very passionate about building authentic relationships and has a lot of good strategies for doing that that you need to implement.

Why Mastering Authentic Networking Wasn’t For Me

You need to be excited about building relationships for this quest. I think if you are, you are going to find a lot of success going forward in your relationships. Keith Ferrazzi discusses everything you need to know about how to find and build authentic relationships and then how to manage them.

I’m not excited about that right now, though. That’s why this quest didn’t sit with me well.

I didn’t want to do everything Keith Ferrazzi was talking about. I can see how networking in the way he talks about would benefit me, without a doubt. But, I have no desire to do it.

• I don’t want to reach out to people.
• I don’t want to meet people for coffee.
• I don’t want to seek out people who could benefit my career.
• I don’t want to attend events.
• I don’t want to host dinner events.
• I don’t want to host any events!

It just doesn’t interest me right now. I have too much going on right now and I don’t want to open up time to networking in the way Keith Ferrazzi discusses in the quest.

In case you are wondering why I took this quest if I don’t have any interest in building a network, I took this quest because I take all new quests on Mindvalley as part of the Quest All Access Pass. I knew that I didn’t want to go out and build a network of people in my life, but I want to make sure I take every quest that comes up and get my money’s worth for the pass. I also was hoping to learn how to network more digitally, which I don’t mind doing.

Introverts And Mastering Authentic Networking

I don’t consider myself an introvert, but I kind of feel like one when I say I don’t want to go out and build relationships with other people. I think I’m just at a time in my life where I spend my time on various things and people and don’t have the desire to put it on other things or people right now.

Maybe that will change down the line.

If you are an introvert and want to be a better networker, then Keith Ferrazzi and this quest can help you. All you need to do is follow his plan.

I think an introvert would especially benefit from this quest because Keith Ferrazzi lays it all out for you. It takes a lot of the pressure off figuring out how to find the right people, build those relationships, and then maintain them going forward. He has a blueprint to help you do that and you just need to follow that blueprint and get things done.

He helps you figure out what to say to others in a way that builds and maintains relationships, so you don’t need to worry about that. You just need to do your research and show up prepared. And that preparation is going to give you a boost of confidence that will help you put your introverted side to the background when you need to and get out there and engage in a meaningful way with other people.

Does Keith Ferrazzi’s Information Apply To Pandemic Times?

I thought that Mindvalley and Keith Ferrazzi would completely change up Mastering Authentic Networking to match a more digital way of networking, but I don’t think they did. Keith Ferrazzi talks a lot about meeting people person throughout the quest. He talks about coffee dates and making one-on-one meetings with people. So I think they pretty much kept it the same as it was before they knew a pandemic was on the horizon.

On day 7 of the quest, he does include a video on how to network digitally.

That was probably the most interesting day for me because that’s how I operate –  digitally. It got me thinking about how I could build relationships online through outreach and online engagement. And I did take some action on what he taught on that day.

I think, though, that the general information Keith Ferrazzi teaches can still be applied, even in pandemic times. It may be a little different. For instance, instead of meeting someone for coffee, you may meet them on a Zoom call.

Then again, depending on what’s happening with the pandemic in your area and your comfort with meeting people, you may be able to meet them for coffee in a socially distant way. There just won’t be shaking hands or sitting next to each other. But, the blueprint that Keith Ferrazzi teaches for building the relationships will remain the same.

So, yeah, you may need to tweak some things in regards to how you meet or engage with people. For instance, you may not want to invite someone to a long, slow dinner as Keith Ferrazzi talks about in the quest. But the information taught is going to help you figure out a way to cultivate relationships with people.

Keith Ferrazzi Can Help You Build A Strong Network

The bottom line is that Mastering Authentic Networking is a blueprint for building a strong network of people who will benefit you and the people around you.

If you want that in your life, and you are willing to take the time to cultivate and nurture these relationships in an authentic way, then Mastering Authentic Networking is for you. Step by step, you will build a plan to go out there and meet people and engage them in a way that encourages strong and healthy relationships for a long time to come.

Even though I’m not engaging in the process right now, it’s obvious that it would work if I wanted to put the effort into it.

If you are interested in learning more from Keith Ferrazzi, you can take his free masterclass here on how to create new opportunities and work and in life through authentic networking. Or you can learn more about the quest here.

If you have any questions about the Mastering Authentic Networking quest, please ask me in the comment section below.