Personally, 2023 has been all about connecting better with myself, connecting better with others, and building connections among people in my network that I think would be of value to one another. One of the most important things that I've learned in life, both personally and professionally, is that our connections begin with ourselves. When you have a good connection with yourself, you can show up in the world authentically and attract the right people, connect, and build relationships.  If you don't have a strong sense of self, you have the potential to go out and build the wrong kind of connections, damage the ones that should be healthy, and have distant relationships with people you’re supposed to be close with. You may not be living the experiences that you want or having the conversations that you want.  And that's what brought me to today's guest, Susan McPherson. Susan is the author of “The Lost Art of Connecting,” which came out in 2021. Her whole goal with this book is to build a much-needed practical guide to building human connection. Her book came out after the pandemic, but she actually began writing it before the pandemic. Because of this, all of this time that Susan had to spend remotely helped her develop ways of connecting with people that start digitally and build in real life. Her book is especially helpful in the post-pandemic world, as many people once in isolation have had to readjust to the new social climate. Susan considers herself a serial connector, which is also a goal of mine. I'm interested to learn a lot of her tactics, her strategies, and the way that she approaches building human connections. As you listen to this, think to yourself, “Who am I as a person? What's my relationship with myself?” Also, think about what you need to work on. There will be opportunities to learn and apply some of Susan’s tools into your everyday life.    Find Susan here: “The Lost Art of Connecting” book: https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Art-Connecting-Meaningful-Relationships/dp/1260469883/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3PCMOBH770KCG&keywords=the+lost+art+of+connecting+susan+mcpherson&qid=1678476187&sprefix=the+lost+art+of+con%2Caps%2C281&sr=8-1    Find Nick Thompson here:   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nthompson513/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXipWcR8Pit6vYHd1ZcKgKg