Our final tip is to surround yourself with extraordinary people. I like to refer to them as your tribe. People shrink or expand to match the people around them, so you must surround yourself with people who support and facilitate your dreams.
Surround yourself with only those people that are going to lift you higher
-OPRAH WINFREY
To start, you must commit to building your tribe. The role of people who make up your tribe should include A mentor, a problem solver, a colleague, an achiever, an action man/woman, a constructive critic, and an optimizer. One person can serve multiple roles, but each character should be present for a fully functioning tribe.
The people you associate with have the greatest influence on your life. Your relationships will either make or break you and there is no such things as a neutral relationship. People either inspire you to greatness or drag you down into the gutter, it’s that simple. No one fails alone and no one succeeds alone.
-UNKNOWN
First, let’s explore the roles of your tribe members:
- The Mentor: Someone who already has achieved what you are trying to accomplish. They carry with the experience you lack, and they offer guidance.
- The Problem Solver: Someone who you can bounce your problems off of and helps you find genuine solutions.
- The Colleague: Someone who is going down a similar path as you.
- The Achiever: Someone who is passionate, ambitious, and has a track record of achievements.
- The Action Woman: Someone who can identify when it is time to stop planning and start doing.
- The Constructive Critic: Someone who can offer constructive feedback
- The Optimizer: Someone who brings out the best in you, and helps you maintain your roll.
Now that you know what you are looking for, how do you find them? Look at the people around you. Do any of them already fill a role? For example, my husband is my problem solver. He strategizes continuous improvement for a living and has offered me some idea saving solutions.
Next, be open to new experiences as they appear. Depending on your goals, you can join local meetup groups, professional networking groups, mastermind groups, etc. I joined a local writers group, and I am hoping to attend an autumn writing retreat. Once you start looking, options will pop up everywhere.
Finding the right mentor deserves further discussion. Now you may look in any of the places listed above, or you can make it a separate journey. I like to go big. Depending on what your goal is, you should take extra time and effort to establish a relationship before asking them to do stuff for you. I have benefited from having amazing mentors in my life. I do my research, find out the top names in the field, and introduce myself. They are not always the best mentors, but if not, you will often find yourself in the near vicinity of one. People are just people no matter how rich, famous, or successful they are. Some are great mentors; others are not. You need to find someone with influence as well as someone who can bring out the best in you.
Once you find your tribe, things will begin to happen. It will be faster than you expect, and your life will never be the same. Hang on for the ride, and don’t forget the 5-second rule. ENJOY!
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