We all have played Mario then Super Mario – the amazing video game. In my case, the center offered many games likes Contra, Spartan, Car Racer etc. but I always liked a game called, ‘Super Mario’. I liked its sound, powers, jumps and lot many things in the game.

However I never wished my Super Mario to die but I lost it in most of my attempts. After losing each game I used to restart and play, but lost every time I played.

After my ninth standard, I hardly got any time to play the Mario but the question about the end of Mario always made me think.

Life went on. Like everyone, I completed my studies and joined corporate world. In profession most of us do not have a God Father so we can say we have to work and learn by experience. We all commit mistakes make more enemies than friends but we always work hard to perform well, to excel. We get promotions and keep on rising on the corporate ladder.

Many a times we fail, it is something like maintaining strong & long term relationships and networking. I always; still wonder about the magic of relationship building and networking skills.

One fine day, I found Super Mario game from my school stuff and I started playing the same. After reaching the 3rd stage I lost my Mario and stopped playing the game. And that was the moment, it struck me that; it was not Super Mario who died but it is the player who kills Super Mario. Then I started thinking about all those things which I could have saved but lost due to ignorance or ABC reasons. The first thing which came to my mind was my relations, which started well but never nurtured to lifelong. I gave it a long thought and discovered:

‘Our Relationships Are Like Super Mario, They Will Never Die Until We Kill Them’.

In a game we never wish the Super Mario to die, similarly no one ever wish the relations to end up with fights/misunderstandings/grudges and what not. If Mario needs to be nurtured with powers to clear different stages of the game, the same way relationships needs to be nurtured with love, care, and most importantly communicating with your friends even when you don’t get chance to meet regularly.

With the world becoming faster, people are becoming vulnerable. Life is demanding and hence relationships start taking a second place in the run. Why? Because we are all busy, we have deadlines, targets, bosses etc. And then we want to have an attitude, a lifestyle, money, power and what not. We want everything. And in the chase all we start losing out on is focus.

Like in Mario – once you lose the focus, shifts priorities you end up losing Mario. You only save a Mario when you cross all stages with him an earn points. Similarly, if you leave the skill of networking, it is difficult that you emerge a leader and if at all you do, you lose out on points. Most people do not realize when and where they end up breaking a network or a connection. This realization only happens when we need a person who we haven’t connected from a long time. Save the connection – don’t kill the Mario.

Besides your network allows you to help people in a better way. It is a trait we must work on as a skill. Effective networking is like saving the Mario and winning the game.