I’m at the Launch Conference in Orlando as I write this, hearing great information and more reminders about the necessity of being connected to others.
With the growth of the entrepreneurial model I see lots of people who think they have to “make it on their own.” Nothing could be farther from 
the truth. As I think about my own little business I think about my daughter Ashley who coordinates all our communication and websites, runs our live events, oversees product fulfillment and customer service. We have people who handle the technical details of our business, Jen who handles all social media correspondence, the designers who create covers and book layouts, the virtual assistants who scan the internet for relevant content, the editors and PR people who help with book sales, and the list goes on and on.
Yes, I’m a business owner – but guess what – I have no employees, I’m a poor people manager and I love to work alone. But without the complimentary skills of all those other people I could accomplish very little.
Today I heard reference to this verse from Ecclesiastes. It’s often used as a reference to marriage, but it also speaks to the process of being successful in any area of your life.
9 Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their labor:
10 If either of them falls down,
one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
and has no one to help them up. Ecclesiastes 4:8-10 (NIV)
Do you have others around you who are ready to pick you up if you fall down? If you’re a writer, speaker, coach, employee, entrepreneur, free-lancer, independent contractor or college student – you need people to come alongside you to reach any extraordinary level of success.
I’m meeting people all around the country who follow @48DaysTeam on Twitter and Dan Miller on FB – just one of the ways we are connected with people we are helping and who are in turn helping us. Ashley and Jen tell me we’re going to do some exclusive Twitter and Facebook contests and bonuses for people that follow us during the week. They also said if you go to the podcast page you’ll find a quote and a “click to tweet” button for the podcast as well – like this:
“When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” -Old Proverb Click to Tweet!
Who are the people who are “helping” you in your success?
A friend of mine started a mastermind group last year based on previous things that he read from 48 Days. We started as a group of six and have expanded to eight with a ceiling of twelve members. I have learned more in our monthly meetings over the last year than the previous five years on my own. We can get much farther with others than we can by ourselves.
Ken – wow thanks for sharing about your mastermind group. That’s a great testimonial for the power of strategically chosen connections.
Greetings Dan,
I once read a post by a fellow 48Days.net member in which he described himself as having a tendency to be a lone wolf. It sounds like this can work as long as it is not taken to far. As for me, I prefer to work alone a good share of the time. But, need to sit down with a client or two regularly to maintain balance. I am not good at managing people either, relating yes, managing no. Having read your post, this is the first time I have decided that is ok. As you have said in so many ways, focus on developing your strengths. Dan, what do you say to we lone wolves? Thanks so much.
Paul – what I say to you lone wolves is that I’m one of you. I spend about 90% of my working time totally alone. The other 10% is in working with our coaching mastery members, our live events or in my mastermind group. That balance seems to work really well for me.
Dan,
I admire you for being able to identify and embrace those things about yourself. I assume it took a bit of experimentation to learn the correct proportion and subsequent sweet spot. I know first hand what can happen when you stray too far from how you are wired. Let us say ouch. Thanks for being the example in a world where too many of us do what is expected whether it’s a good idea or not. Thanks,
I have an incredible partner who has definitely proven that he is there and ready to pick me up if/when I fall. I appreciate this post as it acknowledges the importance of needing a support system. It’s okay to need support structures in your life. I am very close to falling probably further than ever in my career. I am in medical marketing and facing the end of my current employment for a practice that is consolidating in order to stay afloat in this precarious time for all medical practices.
I am at a loss at to how to shift and what to do for myself. I would like to use this time as an opportunity for a career makeover but to my own embarrassment I have not a clue what I would like to do! What are my skills? I’ve been a “talker” or generalist for so many years. I would love to obtain the training to become qualified within a specialty field of service where I help people but I really do not know what that would be. I have started 48 days and am appreciating the thought provoking questions. How do I willingly undergo this transformation in small town USA where opportunities for a decent wage are very limited? A few programs that I am interested in for a new educational degree are an hour away and require full-time schooling. I am not sure how to begin this process. I could use some advice. Thanks!
Just continue through the 48 Days process to clarify your highest areas of competence. If you’ve been in sales and marketing, those are highly transferable skills that can open lots of new opportunities.
I’m in small town USA (pop. 8,000) as well and made a career shift from youth ministry a few years ago while soaking in Dan’s written and spoken advice. Like Dan replied to you, sales and marketing are HUGE! The small town advantage that I have experienced is that locals smile and wave, and most of the time will give you their ear for your product or service. I have found this to be a bit more difficult in bigger cities…partially because I’m not a charismatic guy. Locally, though, I interact with these business owners at the ball field and during community events so I don’t need to “break the ice” or make a rock star first impression.
I have seen some local needs where I have abilities to serve, then knocked on the doors of most businesses in town and won many of them as clients. A couple friends of mine are killing it as computer technicians here because they saw a void (about 12yrs ago) in local service and asked businesses if they needed their services.
So, coupling my thoughts with Dan’s, I think one question to ask is, what service is your community lacking that you have the competence and desire to fill?
Hope this is encouraging/inspiring to see how this relational benefit of living in small town USA breaks out of the “limit”s.
Thank you Matt. I will put some thought to our community and unfulfilled needs I notice. This is encouraging. I may be taking a huge step back to a PT position simply to allow myself time to assess what my future goals should be. Definitely a time of transition but hopefully diligence will pay off with a more rewarding situation for me. Thanks again.
Thank you Dan!!! It is pretty amazing how the power of numbers can strengthen us. Love your spirit of teaching us to share in our strengths versus dwell alone in our weaknesses.
THANK YOU!