The Importance of Community & How to Find Yours
Being an entrepreneur or a woman trying to find your place in this world is a lonely feat.
You have to search within yourself to find what is missing, and what you need in your life. It’s a journey that requires a lot of self-reflection and can be emotionally exhausting. If you’ve ever searched within yourself you know how much energy it takes, and sometimes it can trigger past experiences or traumas that we have forgotten about. Reliving those and working through those are tough. Especially if we don’t have someone we can share and talk it out with.
This journey can be hard to express to other people, and can bring up feelings of shame or guilt. Speaking from experience, we often make the issue bigger in our mind than it actually is. So having someone to share it with can help you to work through that and bring you a different perspective which will often allow you to process the memory and move on.
Soul-searching can also be extremely liberating! It’s such a powerful thing to feel like you have found your place in the world, and your purpose for being here. It’s empowering and exhilarating!
However, one of the downfalls is that sometimes we outgrow our friend group. If they are not doing the work on themselves, they may not be able to relate to you all the time anymore. And that’s okay, but by staying in a group like that all the time you will get stuck. There will be a point where you will stop growing in order to still “fit in” with them.
So it’s important to seek other people and create new friendships that will help foster that growth. I don’t agree with totally cutting people out just because they’re not on the same level as you yet, but you can limit your time with them so that you can continue to grow without the friendship feeling strained or like a burden to either of you.
I have had many friendships where we are growing at different speeds and sometimes, you have to take a break from each other for a few months to grow individually. Often you will find yourselves at the same frequency again later on, and the friendship will be stronger than ever before!
Having a community of like minded people is so important as you’re searching for your place in the world. They will encourage you when you are feeling down, and remind you of how amazing you are and that what you’re doing in this world is meaningful. They will also tell you how ridiculous you’re being when you’re overthinking things and need to get out of your own way.
If you feel like you haven’t found that community yet, here are a few ways to try meeting new people:
Attend local networking events (Keep your eye on the Maven Project Events page). All of our events are about networking and hearing other people’s stories. If you decide to come by yourself, we will welcome you with open arms! And if you’re really nervous about coming independently let us know when you check-in and we’ll be sure to introduce you to a few people who will make you feel included!
Join a local sports team or committee! There are plenty of options from church groups, to adult soccer teams, to gyms or town event committees, check in with your local recreation department to see what’s available or who you should contact.
Join a Mastermind or Business Group - this is a great way to meet people who will help you grow your business, and generally want the best for you! Be selective with what group you choose to make sure it’s a good fit! It took me 8 months to find a Mastermind that I was excited about! (Of course the Maven Mastermind would be my first suggestion to check out!)
Get a part time job or join a Network Marketing Company. It’s an easy way to meet new co-workers, or if you’re working in retail or restaurants to meet new people in the public. It may not be a job you love, but it’s a great way to bring in some extra cash flow while meeting people!
Go online - there are plenty of Facebook groups that are engaging, and full of like-minded people! Try to find one that’s relatively local to you to allow for in-person meet-ups!
As always, The Maven Project is always here for you. Please reach out if you are feeling lost or alone! We will help you to find a community that makes sense to you, or introduce you to someone we know that is perhaps going through what you’re going through!!