In order to become something in life, you need to learn something from everybody you meet. Everything in life that happens to you, happens to you for a reason.

This is not a revelation; it is all just plain truth. The real question, though, is what do you do with this? What do you take away from meeting each person with whom you come into contact?

Every day you should meet one more interesting person. Every day is a chance to learn. Every day you should be learning something about yourself and something about other people. Every day.

So you should be learning something every day, but you should also be teaching something every day. You should do this because while we are all students of life, we are also all teachers in life.

You are only as powerful as the people you meet and attract into your life. What do you do, though, if you don’t have a chance to meet a lot of people?

In that case, you need to set goals for yourself. The only way to go out there and meet people is to set a goal. Set goals like “I am going to carry on a conversation with three total strangers every single day.”

Understand that building your social network can also build your business network. It’s not just about attracting the opposite sex.

It’s also about becoming a stronger person. It’s about being somebody who has a powerful network.

So you must meet a lot of people in order to be successful. Just meeting a lot of people, however, is not enough. You also have to ask a lot of questions, learn from these experiences and embrace them.

In order to be the most well-rounded person you can be, you need to start building up your network. You’re only as successful as your network. If you crave success in life – no matter whether it’s monetary success, personal success, dating success or some other kind of success — you must cultivate that network and be able to really learn from everyone.

Don’t worry when you are in a situation in which people are talking about things you don’t know or about a subject you don’t know well. In those situations it is perfectly okay for you to just sit back and listen.

Say, for example, you are listening to a whole bunch of people talk about politics and you know very little about politics. Instead of trying to say something to add into the conversation, why not just kick back and listen for a minute or two . . . or even 20 or even 30?

History will always repeat itself. I guarantee you that down the road the same topic is going to come up in a conversation. Because you listened to those people and you became educated about that subject matter, you will be able to contribute to that conversation.

So, cultivate a powerful network in life. If you cultivate a powerful network, you are going to be a success in every aspect of your life.

Reach out to people. Send an email to someone you have always wanted to meet.

Is there someone that you want to mentor you? Send an email to them telling them how much you love their work, and that you would love to ask them some questions. You can also tell them that the number one question you have is, “What does it take to be as successful as you?”

Everyone loves to talk about themselves. People will share themselves with someone they know is interested, because everyone who is successful remembers that at some point in their life they had a mentor who helped them.

So it’s time to build up your network and become as successful as you want to be!

There is something here that’s called “June Gloom.” No, it’s not a bunch of desperate guys from the desert wanting to meet hot girs from the beach. It’s cloud cover caused by the hot desert air meeting the cold ocean air.

So I’m driving around with a client who flew in from New York whom I told to come here to work with me so he could enjoy the nice weather, and it’s raining. The great thing for him is that he feels like he’s home in New York . . . with the exception of not traveling on the subway.

So to make him feel totally at home, everytime we are at an intersection I make it feel like a subway stop. “Approaching Montana Avenue. Please beware of the bad drivers (substituting that for a warning to beware of the closing doors). Beep!”

Now for today’s blog…which is about being with groups of people, but in a very different way than being crowded in with them on a New York subway.

The ultimate trick for networking is what I call “the group mentality” (as opposed to “the one-up”). If you want to make the most of your time and stay in touch with all of your friends, you need to learn about the group mentality.

Many of us make the mistake of hanging out with a just a few people we already know well. Perhaps we go out on a Sunday and spend the day with a few close friends.

We invest eight hours with three or four people. This really isn’t good time management.

Instead, you should be getting six to eight people together for a two-hour brunch. In that situation you will basically become the master of ceremonies and, as such, people will look to you as the group leader. If they see you in this light, they will always invite you to the functions that they have.

This is great for the person who wants to network. You will start to notice that you are beginning to get invited to a lot of different events. Everybody wants that person who put the group together at their event, because they know that when the party gets slow or calms down that the group will always gravitate toward you.

If you’re someone who wants to meet a lot of people — whether it’s for business, personal or dating purposes — then you need to start using the group mentality. If you’re just continuing to go out with one or two other people, you won’t be able to network effectively.

The key to life is to tap into other people’s networks. The easiest way to do that is through group meetings.