Seek Others of Your Species
Every two weeks or so, I have a phone conversation with a good friend of mine Julie. She’s also a coach. We did our training together and have kept in close contact ever since. This close contact we share has proved SO valuable to us both as we share our discoveries, collaborate on ideas, hold each other’s butt to the fire (ie., hold each other accountable to get stuff done) and generally sharpen the professional skills we are developing (or point to resources the other might enjoy).
When you’re a solo business owner, it’s so important to have relationships like this with outcomes like these. And there are other roles where keeping close to others of your ’species’ can prove invaluable.
The single parent. The Dad. The buck-stops-here Boss. The Church minister. The Youth Worker. The Creative type. For all of you, it’s very very easy to become isolated, unchallenged, unsupported, stale. If you’re feeling like that, I encourage you: go looking! Refresh those old contacts; join a group; have a beer or a lunch with someone else from your species.
Twice this year, I’ve run 8-week Dad groups in my local community, each with a different group of men. Both times, one man in each group said something to this effect: “I thought these things just happened in my family. I thought there was something wrong with me, with us. Now I now we’re normal and it happens everywhere. I’m a lot more relaxed at home and less stressed about how I’m doing as a Dad.”
Seek others of your species. We all need each other…
I belong to a Father’s Network group were fathers that have special needs (children with disabilities) get together and have a night of fun and a chance to socialize with other fathers who understand what we are dealing with.