Your Network = Your NetWorth I N A S S O C I A T I O N W I T H D R . A T T R E Y A , A U T H O R O F 3 0 + B O O K S O N M A N A G E M E N T J O G E S H J A I N THE RULE OF 33% Background It was a rainy evening on the 16th of July 2016 I , in a semi drenched state landed at Dr Attreya ' s home at 5 pm sharp I didn ' t want to leave a first bad impression on the 93 year old author of many books who had cared to give me a time slot after many requests Dr Attreya is a well known management guru , who has authored more than 30 books and has founded various management associations across India I did not know back then that the 90 mins I spent with Dr Attreya would change my life forever I lost the concept of time , while he talked and explained me the rule of 33 %. It was not a concept that was difficult to understand but I did not understand why I had not heard of it before When implemented , one can change the course of their careers and their lives I had read so many books on personal development , time management , people management and yet , none of those best selling books mentioned this simple yet profound concept I forgot about all the challenges in my personal life , while I sat with Dr Attreya and understood The Rule of 33 %. Such was the power and honesty of Dr Attreya , my first mentor At 6 : 29 PM , when I left Dr Attreya ' s home , I made a declaration to the world ( in my mind of course ) that I would write and publish my 1st book titled " How To Get That Job ". I know what you are thinking What changed between 5 PM to 6 : 30 PM that I made this declaration and how is it related to The Rule of 33 %. I will come to that but before that , let me explain you the concept of The Rule of 33 Declaration The Rule of 33% According to Dr Attreya , if you really want to flourish and prosper in life , you must always remember the rule of 33 %. It goes like this Spend 1/3rd (33%) of your time, energy and effort with people who are ahead of you. ____________________________________ Spend 1/3rd (33%) of your time, energy and effort with people who are at the same level as you. ____________________________________ Spend 1/3rd (33%) of your time, energy and effort with people who are behind you. Impact of 33% On that rainy day , had I not met with Dr Attreya , someone who was clearly ahead of me in life , I would not have got the idea of writing my first book I would not have known that there is an author within me I would not have known that I too was capable of writing a book I would have become an author in the first place Dr Attreya , had given me clear guidelines of writing the book , so that I could write it and publish it sooner than later He had told me in advance that I would be facing a writer ' s block , a challenge that most author ' s face and how I could overcome it He had told me the publishing guidelines , what publishers look for , what is the investment that goes into publishing a book so that I could be better prepared when time came Do you think all those valuable lessons would have come to me , had I spent time with someone who was at the same level as me , or someone who was behind me I have similar lessons about accomplishing things when I spent time with people of the other two categories I will share them some other time But I hope you got the idea , the gist of 33 % rule Now think about your circle of people Which of those people can be a part of your 33 % ( Ahead of You ) - 33 % ( With You ) - 33 % ( Behind You ). What are you going to takeaway from each set of people ? Remember always , that your network is equal to your networth Your 33% - 33% - 33% Law of Reciprocity Now , I know what will happen No matter what your situation in life is , whether you are a job seeker or whether you are a coach , trainer or consultant , the first thing you will do is find someone ahead of you in your 33 % list and approach them Once you approach them , the first thing you will ASK them would be for a job reference , recommendation or solution to wherever you are stuck in life That is normal human tendency This is where the Law of Reciprocity comes in In the subject of Psychology , the Law of Reciprocity states that people tend to favour people and give them something only when they have received enough from them already In other words , GIVE GIVE GIVE ( 3 times ) before expecting anything in return Avoid WIFM WIFM stands for " Whats In It For Me ". When you come from a place of WIFM , your energy is very polluted with anxiety , fear of rejection , desperation , scarcity This kind of energy does not attract anyone but only repels everyone People assume you to be self - centered , selfish and transactional But when you OFFER someone your help , expertise , your value , they assume you to be a giver , kind , helping , and your respect in their perspective gets elevated Your energy becomes more attractive , loving , pleasant and people want to do business with you So always avoid WIFM and provide value first Networking Quotient is the measure of one ' s ability to convert their network into a worthy opportunity So if you think about your network , what would be your Networking Quotient It is said that the higher your networking quotient , the higher is your networth Elevate Your Networking Quotient Now that you are coming from a place of WCIG ( What Can I Give ) instead of WIFM ( Whats In It For Me ), lets define your Networking Quotient Ask yourself:- How many people do I know in my network who are ahead of me (______)? How many of them are on a similar journey like me (_____)? How many of them are behind me (_____)? Networking Quotient Increase Your Networking Quotient Care For Your Network : Care for your network just as you care for your family If you would not count how many times you help your family members , do not count how many times you helped your network Understand Their Problems: Everyone is going through some problem or the other Be empathetic towards your network and try to find out what challenges they are facing and try to solve them Be Genuine: We humans have a magical ability to sense who is helping genuinely and who is just pretending to help So always be genuine Following are some tips to improve and increase your networking quotient 1 2 3 After Dr Attreya , another influential authority that I met with was Brig Sushil Bhasin After getting coached by him under his TTT ( Train the Trainer ) program , I launched my organisation JJ School of Employability , under which I launched the " Making India Employable " initiative His coaching program also exposed me to many industry professionals who were stalwarts in their own domains I also met with many start - up entrepreneurs just like me Had I relied on myself for building my network , I would have connected with a limited number of like minded people but because I joined his coaching program , my Network Quotient Expanded dramatically and I worked closely with many of those professionals " How are you filling the gap with your networking quotient "? Which events, webinars, seminars, community are you part of which is helping you bridge that gap? Expand Your Networking Quotient Question For You AS IS - > TO BE Before you put your network to work for you , the first thing you need to do is chart out , where you currently are , career wise and where would you like to be What is your income and what would you like it to be ? What is your position and what would you like it to be ? What is your profile and what would you like it to be ? Who is your role model and who would you like it to be ? Answering these and more questions will give you clarity on your destination , your dream profile and then you can chart a process of how to you get to your dream profile and what kind of NETWORK would you need for that If your dream profile is to become a CEO / CIO / CFO of a big organisation , what kind of people can help you get there Obviously you will need people who are already there Once you nurture and provide value to this category of people , they will share with you strategies that will help you get there Then you also need people who are with you in this journey , pursuing the same goals They could become your accountability partner and keep you on track towards your destination Thus , your Network plays a crucial role in helping you become that person who gets that dream profile Many people under estimate the power of networking and these are the people who have no results in their life If you observe any CEO profile person , their biggest asset is their NETWORK Therefore Your Network = Your NetWorth Draw the AS - IS and TO - BE role for you Design the networking strategy that will help you get there List out all the things you need to start doing with your network to nurture them ? List out all the ways you can be creative about your networking ? For Example Conclusion Follow Up For You All The Best!