One of the most powerful things in the world is to be supported and believed in. Any measure of success I’ve achieved has been fueled by people who believed in me and supported my work. I think you can probably think of people who did the same for you.
Yesterday was Mother’s Day and I’m thinking about how my Mom did those things for me, my siblings, and many other people. She bought me books, encouraged my writing, drove me to countless sports practices, and homeschooled me (plus my other four siblings) through middle school.
What I encourage you to think about this week is two-fold. First, who are the people in your life who have supported, nurtured, and believed in you? This is a great week to reach out and thank them for the role they have played in your life. That expression of gratitude is a powerful thing for both people.
This also acts as a powerful journal prompt. Take some time over the next few days and write down some thoughts on the the impact people have had on you through their love, support, and encouragement. Thinking about this offers great insight about why it meant so much and how you can do the same for others. Which leads me to the second challenge of the week.
Second is to consider how you can offer support to people you interact with. There are people in your life that are starving for someone to be a source of encouragement, a sounding board, and a guiding influence in his or her life.
One way to think about this kind of contribution is in the context of the Hero’s Journey. There’s a time in your life where someone acted as a guide for you, supporting and believing in your life and arc. While you’ll go through stages of the journey many times in life, recognize the final stage is Return and Contribution.
Offering support, encouragement, and belief in someone can be done in a wide variety of ways. Being a parent, mentor, or coach aren’t the only options for those who want to make an impact. Here are few ways to offer that belief and support to those around you this week.
- Share a note of encouragement via text, direct message, chat, video, or voice message.
- Review someone’s work and offer suggestions or edits to improve it.
- Schedule a short call with a co-worker to see how they’re doing.
- Join a friend for a walk and talk about life outside of work, or their work/interests outside of raising a family.
- Send $5-10 to a creator you respect as a thank you for how her work impacts your life (to be clear this isn’t a veiled request for you to send me anything – but another creator you want to support).
There are so many ways for us to support each other. Sometimes it’s easy to think that nothing is going right, but by connecting directly with another person we’re cutting through the noise and the bad news to bring light to the life of someone else.
I hope you have a great week,
Matt