My husband, Brian, and I doing a 5K trail run in San Diego

Last year, my husband signed me up with a running coach, and it has been a pretty cool experience.  My coach and I have never met.  We only speak by phone or, most commonly, by email.  I have an online calendar where I log in and record my progress during the week.  The nicest thing about training this way is that I have someone to hold me accountable. 

Before I started working with a coach, it was really easy to talk myself out of running on a particular day (It's too hot out, It's too cold out, I don't have time...you name it).  However, it became a lot harder to continually miss workouts when I had to explain to someone else why I was, ultimately, too lazy to get out the door.  There have been many days where I have gone running at odd hours because I couldn't face my coach with yet another excuse.  Throughout the year I have had ups and downs, but my coach has pushed me to a level that I would not have been able to reach on my own.  

This same rule applies to networking.  To be truly successful, you need someone to hold you accountable.  Are there people in your life that push and encourage you to get out there and build your network?  Are you helping to encourage others?  If not, ask a friend, colleague, coworker, or family member (my husband is one of my best supporters) to hold you accountable and make sure you are taking time to meet new people, keep in touch and build relationships with others, etc.  Check in with them on a regular basis (weekly, monthly, whatever works for you), and make sure you are both staying "in shape".