Do you surround yourself with the right people? As creatives and entrepreneurs, we tend to focus a lot on self-empowerment and growth, but this is only part of the equation for success; the people we work and create with play a crucial role in our journey, too. Collaborating with individuals who elevate and inspire us and share our values is essential to our success, happiness, and fulfillment. When you surround yourself with the right people, you’ll feel connected and creatively alive and never settle for anything less again.
I used to think the worst thing in life was to end up all alone.
Robin Williams
It’s not. The worst thing in life is to end up with
people who make you feel all alone.
Finding My People
Over a decade ago, I co-produced an entrepreneurship educational program with a group of passionate creators. For the most part, we worked virtually as we were located in different areas of the country.
Once a month or so, we’d gather in person, do deep work sessions, and set strategy.
It was outrageous fun.
The team was comprised of change-makers, dreamers, and visionaries who were on fire with a desire to put a positive dent in the universe. My teammates had delicious senses of humor, endless kindness, and intellects that could send me reeling.
One morning, after working late into the night, we stood in line at a coffee shop. Each of us was bleary-eyed, but feeling accomplished as we had completed a module the night before.
I stared at the list of coffee options on the chalkboard above the counter and tried to rally my brain to make a decision. The lead on the project, George, stood next to me in a similar position. Transfixed on the menu in a haze.
With our necks still craned upward, we turned and looked at each other at the same time and realized we were both unable to get our minds to function. We burst out laughing so loudly that we startled the staff and everyone seated in the shop.
After we collected ourselves, George leaned toward me and said, “I like who I am when I am with you.”
I knew exactly what he meant and loved it. I felt the same way.
After years of working solo, I was now a part of an elite clan of creators with shared values. People with whom I had become close friends. We were bonded by our unwavering focus on liberating as many people as we could by giving them the tools to launch their own enterprise.
Each of us brought the best of us out in ourselves and in one another.
I often remarked that it felt like being in a band, at its height of creative power and playful moxie, working shoulder-to-shoulder in a recording studio. I fully understood what it meant to surround yourself with the right people and the profound impact it can have on your work.
Ever since then, I have used the presence or absence of this feeling as a litmus test. I use it when collaborating with other entrepreneurs, coaching clients, and building ad hoc teams to make something together.
If I don’t have that “band in the studio” feeling, I’ll pass on the opportunity as I know without it, we will struggle against an invisible current that drains our energy and saps our souls. With it, we’ll create something that blows our own minds and holds the power to change the world.
I know we’ll love who we are while in our fictitious studio—elevating each other and enjoying a synergistic layering of ideas in an artisanal cake of inspiration.
Once you’ve had such a luminous experience, you simply won’t stand for anything less.
When You Surround Yourself with the Right People, You Will Blossom
Take a moment right now and think about the people with whom you work and create. Do you love who you are when you are with them? Or, do you feel an odd sense of alienation from the group and yourself?
Working with people who elevate and inspire us, and who share our values, is vital. Such an environment fosters technicolor creativity, driving both personal and collective growth. When these elements are missing, the pain of alienation can be profound, leaving us feeling isolated and alone (even when—especially when—in company).
When you surround yourself with the right people, you will blossom. It is essential not only for your success but also for your happiness and fulfillment. Choose your bandmates carefully.
Creating an Epic Life
A new episode of The Courage to Live a Big Life, is live! Enjoy the 6-minute episode, “Epic Ideal Day” here.
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