Isolation is the real dream killer
We have all heard that ‘It takes a village to raise a child’. Well, it also takes a village to ‘raise a business’! Let’s talk about community and the importance of surrounding yourself with like minded people.
Side note; talking about Villages, this one is where I spent most of my childhood ❤️
I often talk about a before and after moment in my life. After years in the so called Corporate World I decided to start my own business. This is something I would had never, in a million years, thought I’d ever do. For starters, I never thought being a photographer was something I could aspire to. In my book, that was for other type of people. Cool people. Not me. Being a business owner, an entrepreneur, whatever you want to call it, was definitely not in my plans!
But it happened, and I did it. And for years I pushed, and studied, and tried, and failed and succeeded and failed again, and I got up, and I cried and celebrated… and let me tell you, I found it really hard emotionally. You see, our work as creatives is so personal that sometimes the line between our own self and our work overlaps, often leaving us in a very vulnerable position.
Remember that creative rollercoaster we talked about a few weeks ago? I was on the front seat! -who am I kidding, I still am!
But then one day, the coin flipped. I found an online community that literally changed my life. It is called Bite the Biscuit, led by Business Coach Tara Prendergast.
In that Community I found like-minded people that were going through similar situations and struggles. People who were willing to share their experiences, expertise, wins and fails. A safe, honest and encouraging place, a sounding board. We all wanted each other to succeed and to create a good work-life balance too. I experienced the true meaning of community over competition, made great friends and learned so much!!
There is something very interesting about friendship. Most of our friends growing up are geographical friends. They happened to live on our road, or neighbourhood, maybe we went to school together…But if you really think about it, how much do you really have in common with them now? What I found when I joined this community was that we all connected at some kind of energy level. I got them, they got me. It was easy.
This was a very long round about way to make a couple of points:
You don’t have to do it alone. It takes a Village, or an online community in the modern world. It has never been easier to find a group of people with similar interests to yours. Look for it and surround yourself with people who get you. It is life changing!
The online world is wonderful but nothing beats a chat in the flesh. When you feel comfortable and safe, bring those connections offline. Meet up, go for a walk, organise a coffee morning. Connect. Nothing is more powerful than having a few like minded people around the table. If you don’t believe me, watch this by the wonderful Barbara Sher with a cuppa. She inspired the title of this post, because it is true, that the real dream killer is isolation.
Schedule and repeat. Organising regular meet ups is great for accountability, to re-energise, have fun and to get a kick when you need it too!
Tell me, are you part of a community at the moment or are you looking for one? Have you had a similar experience? I’d love to hear! Feel free to leave a comment, get in touch and connect.
PS. I got a great response from this article about finding your voice. If you missed it you can read it here.
Ana x
