What a Coincidence! Why We Should Get Out & Meet New People

A weird coincidence happened to me the other day. Last week I had a dinner function in the city from which I caught a taxi home. The following night we had Active Spirit Trivia, and again, I walked to Flinders Street station to catch a cab home. There was a line of about six taxis, someone else was ahead of me and jumped into the first one, so I jumped into the second. As I stepped in I got a strange sense of déjà vu – it was the same taxi and driver as I’d had the previous night! I’m assuming there are hundreds of taxi drivers in Melbourne, and for me to get the same one two nights in a row was amazing!

It then made me think about other coincidences which have occurred in the past and truly amazed me. There was the time I went to another function in Melbourne, and my friend started talking to an Irish guy who coincidentally had been a contractor at my workplace when I lived in Ireland, at the same time I was there (I didn’t work on his project, but a couple of other people I worked closely with did). Then as a further coincidence he was good friends with the brother of one of my close Irish friends – how strange to meet someone who knew so many people I did who are across the other side of the world! I know they say there are six degrees of separation, but it is always amazing when this theory proves itself!

Another coincidence which I found (and again proving the six degrees of separation theory) was when I was scrolling through the “People you May Know” list on Facebook. Most of the connections made sense, however there was one guy who is friends with one of my Melbourne based friends, but is also a friend of one of my Irish friends. There is no connection between my Irish friend and Melbourne friend (apart from myself and this guy, who I don’t know). Again a totally random connection, wow!

Obviously the more people you know, the more chance there is this could happen.
So by getting out and meeting new people you will no doubt experience this a lot more and add to your own list of “wow” stories. But there are other advantages to meeting new people:

· It opens doors to different networks and can prove to be invaluable when you are looking for contacts in certain areas.

· It makes life interesting, as everyone has their own fascinating story to tell.

· By talking with different people about a broad range of topics we widen our own knowledge, and make ourselves a lot more interesting to talk to.

So how do we expand our networks?

· Join a club. This could be a sport or hobby club which is of interest to you. Or if you don’t have one particular interest, a general activity provider, such as Active Spirit which is free to join, will give you the opportunity to meet people while doing a wide range of different activities which you are interested in.

· Step out of your comfort zone and talk to people! If you are in a lift, start a conversation with someone you don’t know. Same goes if you are out at a bar, or another event. People are generally quite happy to talk (particularly if you talk to them first), and you never know who you might meet.

· Organise activities where you invite friends to bring along other friends. Apart from getting to meet new people, it’s usually a case of “the more the merrier” so you should have a fun time!

One of my personal goals is to expand my networks and meet lots of new people. This is already happening through Active Spirit, and now study has finished, I’m planning on doing whatever I can to get out and meeting interesting new people.

Have you got any stories about amazing coincidences or any suggestions for expanding our personal and business networks? If so, I’d love to hear them!