In a field one summer's day, a Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing to its heart's content. An Ant passed by, bearing along with great toil an ear of corn he was taking to the nest.

"Why not come and chat with me," said the Grasshopper, "instead of toiling and moiling in that way?"

"I am helping to lay up food for the winter," said the Ant, "and recommend you to do the same."

"Why bother about winter?" said the Grasshopper. “We have got plenty of food at present." But the Ant went on its way and continued its toil. When the winter came the Grasshopper had no food and found itself dying of hunger, while it saw the ants distributing every day corn and grain from the stores they had collected in the summer.

Then the Grasshopper knew:

It is best to prepare for the days of necessity.

In 2007, things were going well in the United States.

* Unemployment was under 5%

* Housing prices were hitting highs

* The stock market was hitting levels that had never been seen before.

If you were an Ant during this time, you knew the best thing you could do was make sure you weren't over-leveraged on your house, add to your savings account, and outperform your colleagues at work.

Even though you weren't looking for a new job, you were cultivating your professional network. You spent a few minutes each day, planting seeds by reaching out to old colleagues and friends. You watered those seeds by turning emails and phone calls into coffee or lunch meetings. Those informal, friendly conversations with your current network of connections bloomed and put you in touch with new people.

You learned which companies were doing exciting new things. You met the people in your industry who were difference makers and willing to help you. You weren't asking them for anything, but you were sharing your thoughts and ideas. Your professional network was expanding with small amounts of effort every week.

Like an Ant, you had a plan if you ever lost your job and needed to jump-start your career search right away. Those new connections would be people you would talk to in hard times, and they would help you seek out new employment prospects. You were prepared for winter, even though you weren't sure when the winds would turn cold, and the first snow would fall.

But most of us weren't Ants. We were Grasshoppers.

We believed in an endless summer. In the back of our minds, we knew it couldn't last forever, but we wanted to enjoy it as long as we could.

Summer faded into fall. Banks failed. Houses went into foreclosure. Industries needed government bailouts. Stock markets tanked. Grasshoppers lost jobs.

As Grasshoppers, we started looking for new jobs, but we were just one of many Grasshoppers in the same situation: unprepared and under-networked. We applied for the same jobs the same way we had in the past: by applying online and emailing our resumes. We hadn't met the influencers in our industry. The ones we did get in touch with were getting contacted by all the other Grasshoppers who were out of work.

What about the Ants?

They got laid off, too.

But the Ants had already built their professional networks. When they saw job openings online, they didn't send their resume to the black hole of the applicant tracking system. They contacted the friends they had made during the summer. More importantly, as they talked with their friends, they found out about jobs that weren't even posted.

The Ants quickly landed new jobs.

The Grasshoppers kept looking. Many of them took jobs that were temporary or paid them less than what they made before.

Some of them never returned to the workforce.

Fast forward to January 1st, 2020. Home prices rebounded, unemployment was back to 2007 levels, and the stock market was reaching new highs again. It was summertime, and the livin’ was good.

Everyone talked about how good times couldn't last. Everyone knew something bad had to happen. An economic winter had to be on the way. The problem was, most people weren't doing anything to prepare.

During February 2020, the world started to learn the name of the scourge that would decimate the economy and change the world: COVID-19

In a matter of weeks, the world closed. Driven by government mandates of social distancing, travel stopped, restaurants and stores closed, and tens of millions of people lost their jobs.

No one saw this coming. Most of us were grasshoppers again. The only thing that was predictable in the whole unpredictable mess was that something like this was going to happen.

And the ants were already busy surviving using the networks and connections they created during the good times.

If you got fired today, would you be prepared?

When I lost my job the first time, I was a grasshopper. I had worked at the same company for almost a decade, and during that time, I spent no time building my professional network. It took me three months to find a new job. During my search, I learned the power of professional networking.

As I settled into my new role, I made a promise to myself: I would never stop networking.

Even if I connected with only one new person in a month, I would give time and effort to growing a vibrant professional network. My efforts led to other job opportunities. I switched jobs two more times. Each time, the opportunity came to me through my professional connections.

It was summertime, and if I had remained a grasshopper, I would have sat back and felt great about myself. But I hadn't forgotten the lesson of the first layoff and I kept working like an ant.

At the end of 2017, I sensed a change coming in the company where I was working. There were problems with the finances and job cuts were coming. I didn't know if they would impact me or not, but I started talking to my professional network about opportunities. When I was told my position was being eliminated, I quickly moved to seize the opportunities my network had provided for me.

Being an ant for all those years took my job search from months to weeks. The first time it took me three months. The second time it took me three weeks. The speed at which I found my next job would not have been possible without keeping my network alive.

You've already heard me use the term "vibrant professional network," but I haven't explained what I mean by the term "vibrant."

Vibrant means full of energy and enthusiasm. Does that describe your professional network?

If you contacted the people in your professional network today, would they respond? Would they remember you? Would they think, I haven't talked to this person in years and now he’s reaching out to me? This is how people respond to grasshoppers when they connect with their professional network.

Have you ever watched ants work? Do they look like they are full of energy and enthusiasm? Would you think of them a "vibrant?"

This type of energy and enthusiasm is what you need when you are building your vibrant professional network.

What does this look like in practice? It means you interact with your network every day. You make new connections every day. You contact existing connections every day. You add value to your network every day.

It sounds time-consuming. This is where people hit an obstacle when it comes to networking because they have a misguided mindset about networking.

I have an affinity for language tricks.

Language tricks are ways I use language to change mindsets. Saying the same thing in a slightly different way so that I can change my mind. I use these language tricks to address the two biggest objections I hear when I ask students to complete the following statement at the start of all my coaching sessions:

"I know I need to network, but...."

I get many different answers, but the two statements that come out most frequently during this exercise are:

I'll do it later
I don't have time

Grasshoppers make these statements. Grasshoppers focus on the here and now. Grasshoppers assume there will always be more time. Grasshoppers are the ones who tell me they should have spent more time networking sooner. Grasshoppers regret.

To address the first statement, "I'll do it later," I ask the students to change the word "later" to "never." It comes out as "I know I need to network, but I'll do it "never."

When you say it this way and say it out loud, it doesn't feel good. I don't want it to feel good. I want it to feel like it's never going to happen if you put it off until later because that is exactly what is going to happen.

The grasshoppers say they will do it later. The ants do it now.

In the second situation, when someone tells me they "don't have time" to do something, I ask them to say the same thing again, but instead of saying, "I don't have time," I tell them to say, "It's not a priority."

If a person can make the statement with this revision and it’s still true, then I'll leave her alone, but if it makes her stop and think, I'll challenge her to make a plan to take action.

As it relates to building a vibrant professional network, when a student of mine says, "I don't network because I don't have time," I ask them to rephrase and say, "I don't network because it's not a priority." The deeper meaning is if networking is not a priority then it’s not important. Usually, my student responds and says, "Yes, networking is important and is a priority for me, but I don't know how to fit it into my day."

Everyone gets 1440 minutes each day. One percent improvement every day adds up over time!

Using another language trick, I re-frame the amount of time each day it takes to build a vibrant professional network to motivate my students to make building a vibrant professional network a priority and to starting building it now.

I tell them all they have to do is spend 1% of their day building their professional network.

Did you know 1% of your day is 15 minutes? 24 hours X 60 minutes in an hour = 1440 minutes. 1% of your minutes is just about 15 minutes.

Investing 1% of your day in an activity that will create opportunities to increase your knowledge or locate talented people for your team or provide you with career insurance seems like a decent return on investment. Spending 1% of your day to shorten a job search from months to weeks seems like a pretty good idea, and when I explain it like this, the objections about time and priority seem to fade away.

What do you do during this 1% of every day to help you grow your vibrant professional network?

What can you possibly get done today in 15 minutes?:

Think of one person you know who you have lost touch with over the years.
Write down that person's name.
Search for his or her email address or LinkedIn profile
Send a quick note that says, "I thought of you today and realized we haven't spoken in a while. How have you been?"

Or, you can begin to connect with new people:

Get on LinkedIn or Twitter or Medium or Quora or Reddit.
Read an article or post that looks interesting to you.
Leave an interesting comment. Not a simple, "Nice post," or "Interesting," but let the author know what you liked about it and pose a thoughtful, respectful question.
If the author responds, you can continue the dialogue.

Or, you can find places in the real world to meet new people:

Search online for an organization that aligns with your interests.
Find out when their next in-person or online meeting will be.
Find the name of the organizer.
Send them an email or message expressing your interest and asking for more information.
Put the date of the meeting in your calendar.

The point is you can do these things in less than 15 minutes. You don't need anyone's permission or approval to start connecting and building your vibrant professional network.

If you learn nothing else from this chapter, it's that you have to start today.

Don't wait for tomorrow.

Don't say I don't have time.

Don't say I'll do it later.

Don't be a grasshopper.

“Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the week.”

― Spanish Proverb

This post is one of the chapters in a book I am writing called, “Aesop’s Guide to Networking for Introverts. How to Build Your Professional Network Without Going To Events, Cold-Calling, or Sending Spammy Emails.”

I’m posting the chapters as I go and would love to get feedback or suggestions. Please leave your comments to tell me what I could do better!