I am about to reveal one secret of the old boys' network that has the potential to impact your professional success in ways you can't even imagine. Join a gym. Good gyms have loyal followings, personal trainers, group exercise classes and locker rooms with steam rooms and saunas. Put yourself on a schedule and go two to three times a week. Stick with it and wonderful things will begin to happen. You'll look and feel better. You'll develop relationships with the trainers and with other gym members. You will be a part of a community of like-minded people, the ones who like to keep in shape.
Some of the best networking I've done has been in the locker room. I'd been playing phone tag with the CEO of a company for about a month. One day, as I stepped out of the steam room, wrapped in my most professional towel, there she was. We talked and then scheduled a follow-up meeting. The benefits to your physical health and to your networking reach will increase the longer you maintain and consistently use your gym membership. The hardest part is the commitment.
'We have found that physical fitness and exercise are the most important things we can do to stop surviving and start thriving,' my friend Jennifer Sorochinsky told me. You have a lot of options in Orange County. Check out the numerous Golds Gyms, Straub Fitness, YMCA, and community centers. Stay away from the discount gyms – no CEO's are going to be there. Remember that your fitness goals come first. Meeting people and developing relationships will naturally lead to professional networking. All you have to do is give it time.
Golds Gym Corporate Wellness Center
15 Industrial Drive
Middletown NY 10941
845-344-4653
