Have you spent the last several months trying to avoid getting sick? Maybe you avoid the coughing person at the water cooler. Or you wash your hands often throughout the day. Why do we do these things? Because we all know that if you’re around someone with a cold, there’s a good chance you’ll catch the cold.
The same thing is true in other areas of life as well. When it comes to your ambitions and goals, what are you catching from the people around you? Are they imparting accountability and encouragement and innovation? Or negativity and the status quo?
It’s important that you surround yourself with people who will help you reach your goals. These are people who will inspire you to be a better person, provide you with motivation to achieve your goals, empower you to make the changes you need to succeed and cheer on your success. These are people, resources, or support groups that provide the support you will need to make your dream a reality.
They are also people who are not exactly like you. They have skills you don’t have or look at things in fresh new ways that challenge you. Leaders and risk takers seek to leverage the expertise of others in their own pursuits of a dream, vision, or a goal. The fact that they don’t have the expertise in a first place doesn’t stop them. They just know to have the right people around them.
As you move forward toward your dreams, it can be a very helpful exercise to stop and take an inventory of your support system. Another way to say it? Claim your guidance. Ask yourself, “Where will I turn for support, guidance and cheerleading along the way?”
To get at this a little more practically, let’s do a little exercise.
First, think about all the people in your circles. They can be family members, friends, coworkers, members of the same book club, and even acquaintances with whom you’ve rubbed shoulders at the local coffee shop. By making an inventory of the people in your life, it will show you the resources and assets you have and can reach out to for advice and accountability. What skills do these people have that challenge you or inspire you?
Next, consider reaching out to them for help. But, before you actually reach out, ask yourself why you would reach out to them specifically (instead of someone else). What would you ask of them? Again, be specific. When you are asking someone to give of their time and talent, you want to be respectful.
Lastly, it’s time for action! Decide when you will reach out and write down the date. Track the status of all your “asks”. You will soon see your list of support superstars, paid and volunteer, grow exponentially. To make it easy for you, we’ve created a free tracking tool. No strings attached, just click this link and download the PDF.
By the way, sometimes a bi-product of an exercise like this is that as you end up highlighting areas you want/need to grow, which in-turn, continues to shape your next steps. Another bi-product is that you end up identifying people who are actually detractors in your life… by virtue of not listing them as assets! This doesn’t mean you have to cut those people out altogether – sometimes you can’t! But it lets you be honest about your realities.
Your success will be determined in part by whom you surround yourself with. Who are those people in your life? How are making the most out of your time with them? Will you take the time this week to access your support system and see who you can turn to for help? We’d love to hear how it goes if you have a sec to comment below.
