While I am an eternal optimist and have often (always?!) subscribed to the theory of “ya never know” I am slowly changing my tune.

Ya never know? Mmmm, sometimes you do or at least you have a 95% confidence rate.

I’m referring to networking and the age-old question that many of us often ask ourselves, “should I attend?” We all know that you never know who you are going to meet, how many connections may be made, what totally awesome networking can be done.

But then again, maybe we do know.

At a certain point in the game you have developed a fine-tuned sense of what will evolve for after all:

• You’ve attended this meeting / event before, maybe even several times and there has been no ROT (return on time)
• You pretty much know the people that will show up
• You recognize that the attendees are not in your wheelhouse and quite probably are not connectors to those that are

Our time is precious and we must manage it effectively if we are to be successful. Our time is limited and “ya never know” just might not be the type of time gamble that we should be willing to make.

Trust your instincts. Trust your previous experiences.  Be confident when you say to yourself, “I do know and I’m not going.”