The Power of Community
We are not meant to be alone
In the world of online entrepreneurship — you spend A LOT of time alone.
Hanging out in your yoga pants, watching webinars — opting into all the freebies — getting stuck in FOMO on your social media newsfeed for 20 minutes, getting ready to plan your content, taking the time to “get your head right”, focused around planning all the things you need to do……..which leads to an endless cycle of not taking action and feeling even more ……….
Alone.
Human beings, by nature, are not meant to be alone. We thrive in groups, in communities, and with other human beings who we can relate to, share our frustrations with, and have a combined set of values with.
Taking this road by yourself without support from a community that gets you is the slowest path to gaining the success you want.
I recently had a conversation with a woman who was “building her business”. It seems we are always “building”, stuck in the construction phase of getting the traction we desire and we are often trying to create a city — with only our own labor, sweat, tears, and ideas. How many years of life will that take?
She had watched a training of someone whom we both admired and left it saying, “I know all of that.” Full of fire to run with the ideas and yet hadn’t made the traction she apparently knew how to do, even after years of “building” her business. So, if she knew how to do it — why wasn’t she?
Because as humans, we believe that there is some badge of honor for doing the work on our own. That the knowledge in our heads is enough to make our dreams become “real”.
I know this story all too well because I started out believing I could do everything all on my own in my business journey. Too proud to admit I didn’t know it all and too stubborn to realize that I was only separating myself from incredible people who were there with open arms to positively welcome me into the digital marketing light.
It might sound a bit dramatic, but I am looking back on that experience and reviewing my path daily, even today.
I felt like a crazy toddler flailing my arms on the ground in a fierce temper tantrum all while truly believing no one was listening and no one understood what I was experiencing. Wanting the success “NOW” and believing that if I just wanted something bad enough, I would get it. Manifesting a new reality never works that way. Still, to this day, I have to practice humility and remember that no one gets through the tough stuff without a supportive community of human beings that share your values and interests.
So why do most people still continue to fight it?
Because doing tough stuff on your own is empowering. It gives you a sense of accomplishment, independence, and assertiveness that you were powerful in creating your art. It tells your heart that you aren’t a co-dependent soul who needed to be rescued. Most of all, it tells your psyche that you’re no longer going through life as a lost teenager without a map and a plan.
Then when you finally arrive at adulthood, the journey of self-discovery continues to evolve and yet stays the same. We are constantly as human beings looking for a solution to make our experience “real”. To find relation to others that are going through what we are going through so we can normalize the struggle. Going through the good and the bad with a community of other adults who want to succeed and help you is one of the most important things you can do for yourself.
If you’re looking for that, take my hand. Get off the floor where you found yourself kicking and screaming about the growth you need to go through. Create your map and go through the journey. If you feel lost, damn it ask for directions. There are others with me, waiting and ready to guide you through the challenges we call life and entrepreneurship.
You are not alone.
