Who do you have on your team? People who thrive have support networks. Support networks are people you can go to for advice, encouragement, and even collaboration when you have a challenge or goal. Most people have support networks for different areas of their lives (i.e. a professional support network, a personal support network, a mental health support network).
To put it in a fun way, you need a team. You need to have people who you can reach out to, who you know are rooting for you. These are people you can shoot a friendly email, just saying Hey and telling them what’s new and asking them about their lives. These are parents, mentors, friends, “friendtors,” former colleagues, people in your professional network, who you can approach to buoy you with advice or offer a listening ear when you need it. Even if you don’t approach people for advice often, it’s so important to know that your team is in place.
What if you read this and think to yourself, I don’t know enough people to have a team.
Are you sure? Can you dig deep into your past and list all the people you’ve interacted with in a meaningful context, who have supported you?
Sample team:
My parent
My coach
My sibling
My favorite cousin
My favorite aunt
A close friend from college
My best friend
My work best friend
My friend who is ten years older than me, who I see as older and wiser
My professional mentor
My downstairs neighbors
Now is the time to reach out and make those connections. (The best time to build your support network is before you need to lean on them for something) Reach out to people, say hello, ask what they’re up to, and offer to support their work in some way to get the conversation started. Ideally you can add value to the relationship in your own unique way. Ask, How can I help? And send lots of gratitude to the all people on your team.
It’s good to have a team.