"You Aren't Gonna Believe This!"

Imagine some exciting news happening in your life. Who do you call first?

Maybe you've received some bad news and you need a shoulder to cry on. Who ya hitting up?

Situations in our life happen all the time. You know, the good, the bad and the ugly. It's funny how we share our "status" now compared to 10-20 years ago. Back then it was so different.

We had an exclusive set of people we'd want to share anything that was going on in our life. They were our speed dial circle. Family, friends and even close work BFFs you could automatically dial their number (without even thinking about it you call them that often!) and easily share the news of the day. And they'd do the same with you.

Our circle relationship felt special. You/They were in the know before anyone else. There was an elevated status, a sense of cool and a feeling of belonging just a bit more than anyone else. Bottom line, you felt important and it was awesome!

Times Have Changed Not Your Inner Circle

So what changed? Well...we did. And in my opinion not for the better.

If you think about who is in your speed dial circle today there probably isn't anyone.

No, now we share our status with the world to see on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter or the Gram (that's what the kids call it I hear!). Sure you get a lot more eyeballs on the news of the day and probably a lot more comments, likes, etc. But the buzz is way different.

Our speed dial circles were the bomb. They made us feel like we belonged and what we shared or what we heard mattered. It was a sense of community that was intimate and purposeful. Our circle was always there with a supportive word of encouragement, a surprised sense of excitement or a well placed "it will be alright" phone hug of comfort. It was the ultimate Ripple community if there ever was one.

I'm here to say, it's time to go back!

It's time to resurrect the old speed dial circles, our close friends and start building these intimate groups of awesomeness again. Use the phones for what they were meant for - TALKING, SHARING AND COMMUNICATING. Start forming these circles of intimate conversations with "big haps" in your life and invite your newly forced circle of awesomeness to do the same. Encourage them to share what can't or shouldn't be shared online in the safe world of hyper-focused exclusivity of your speed dial circle.

Yes, that means rather than posting, texting, Slacking or whatever hyper convenient function I can't think of right now, you have to dial some digits and talk on the phone. Egad is he suggesting I make a phone call and talk to another human!?!

Yeppers!

Trust me. Do it a few times and then watch what happens.

The Ripple of community will take hold and will be far more rewarding than any short-term buzz we get from social media. You'll have more intimate more engaged conversations just like the old geezers did back in the day. You'll be amazed at how much more you feel a part of something...dare I say it...special!

Bring back the Speed Dial Circles and watch the Ripples of connectedness to those special peeps in your life really take off!

Ripple On!!!________________Did you know that The Ripple Effect 3rd Edition is available now exclusively on Audible.com?

Check it out by clicking here!