Community is Life
Thoughts on finding your community
I could write an entire chapter on this (I have!) but I’ll try to keep this simple and concise.
If you work for yourself it is imperative that you find your people.
Why? Because alone, we die.
Community helps us not feel so alone, helps us get out of our heads, helps us solve our problems better, helps us find future gigs and jobs.
“The need for connection and community is primal, as fundamental as the need for air, water, and food.” - Dean Ornish
I know an event planner who worked under one other person for a decade, and was so afraid to go out on her own after the pandemic. What she found was an incredible community of friends and vendors who were there to catch her and give her an abundance of work. Her calendar is now maxed out for the next year.
Where will you find community?
This might look like a Facebook group.
An annual conference where you see friendly familiar faces on repeat.
A co-working space that encourages and facilitates connection and conversation.
Working next to another solopreneur friend.
Even though I more or less work on my own, not a day goes by where I am alone.
I make sure I am sharing lunches or coffee with friends in my industry, going to industry networking events, or spending time with outside friends.
This week, for example:
Monday: Lunch with a wedding planner friend, then co-worked together for a few hours after.
Tuesday: Caveday online, where I did deep work for about 3 hours with a community of solo workers around the world. Texted check ins and hellos with a few industry friends.
Wednesday: Catch up phone call for 35 min with my dear friend from the West Coast who I haven’t talked to in a long time. Ran my free book club with a great crew of solopreneurs.
Thursday: Monthly online mastermind meeting with Freeda, then lunch with a planner friend, and then afternoon walk around the neighborhood with another planner friend in town. Possible drinks at the end of the day with two other sister planners in town.
Friday: Fourth of July! Taking the day off. Will still probably text a few folks. Spend the day with my girlfriend.
The last thing I’ll say about this is:
Yes, I still find time to work. But I’ve flipped my priorities. I prioritize my relationships and community first. And then I fit in work in-between. I’ve taken that vase full of rocks, pebbles, and sand metaphor to heart and I’ve filled my life with big things like relationships, self care, lifetime memories, and then I fill in the pebbles around that with emails, editing, work stuff, and then fill in the rest with sand activities like games on my phone, reading, etc.
This is one great way to help you live your Epic Freelance Life.
If you want to join my free business book club we are reading Daring Greatly, by Renee Brown next. Leave a comment below!