Investing in Your Friends’ Goals
Bringing awareness to investing in the people around you
We’re all aware of the idea of the self-made man (or woman). It’s kind of a coveted aspiration that we all knowingly or unknowingly strive for. For some people, being self-made looks like climbing up in the business world to eventually hold some esteemed title. For other people it’s about building a large community of thousands of followers who check in regularly for new content. And for others, self-made might just mean starting their own business from the ground up and seeing it turn a profit. Working hard for these things is good, especially when the focus is more about providing good things to the people around you more than it is about status or making more money. While investing in your own growth, development, and future, is important something that we ought to do more in practice is investing in the goals/endeavors of our friends.
It’s funny that the term “self-made” is used so often considering the reality that no person is really self-made. Behind every successful person is a number of people who helped him/her get there. Even before adulthood, that person had a whole village of family members, educators, and volunteers who invested their time in ensuring they had a good future. There’s always a person or a team helping propel them to the next stage in your growth. So knowing this, why should you turn around and do the same for the people in your life?
Well, to reiterate, no person is achieving their goals on an island by themselves. We need people. Our friends need people, and who better to help them then us, the people that know them well. It’s fair to note that yes, positioning ourselves to support our friends does require some sacrifice, it might even mean slowing down our own progress, but there are benefits to giving your time, financial support, and talents to help someone else.
For one, by investing in your friends’ goals, you’re developing a greater sense of trust. Good friends show interest in the things their friends are doing. When you begin to make their interests yours, you’ll begin to see your relationship grow in depth.
Secondly, they’re more likely to support you back. Now, it’s probably not the right mindset to have that as the motivating factor for helping someone, but the reality is that people usually come back to help you out of gratitude, because they want to do it, and friendships where good deeds are reciprocated as an act of gratitude are great friendships to be had.
Lastly, you might learn something new from helping your friend. There’s no reason why your investment in another person’s goals or endeavors can’t be mutually beneficial. Maybe you help a friend shoot a movie and you learn more about film editing, or you decide to train with your friend for a half marathon and you learn about pacing yourself for long distances. Or you help your friend put on their weekly podcast and you learn how to create your own production. Helping your friends with their goals might just help you improve in ways you wouldn’t have on your own.
Setting ourselves up for success is likely going to be our default setting in life. Expect to look out for yourself, but also leave yourself some space to be interrupted and to think about someone other than yourself who may need help making things happen. And you don’t have to wait to be asked, just go ahead and make the offer to help. Your friend will appreciate it, and you’ll be better off because of it. Investing in your friends’ goals might even be one of the better investments you make in yourself.
