Human Beings are Meant to Be in Community With Each Other.
We are social creatures. We are not meant to be alone and we also an innate need to belong.
As an introvert, I know the deep truth to this. I enjoy solitude (and spend a great deal of time alone). Social situations, especially around people I don’t know, require an enormous amount of emotional energy for me. After a few hours, I am literally exhausted. Yet, it is much worse for me emotionally to go too long without human interaction of substance.
It is absolutely crucial for all people to be part of community cultures.
Are We Careful Enough About Who We are in Community With?
This is the point of this article. Understanding how important a community is for your current life and future impact, making sure your current communities support what really matters to you, and finding new communities if necessary.
If you think about it, you are part of several communities just by virtue of how you live your life. Your work-place is a community, your friendships are a community, where you live is a community, your church is a community, any clubs/groups you belong to, online or offline, are communities, and there are others.
The first thing to consider is did you actually choose these communities, or did you make a life choice, and the community just came along with it?
For example, it’s typical to seek employment based on income, job description, advancement potential, benefits, etc. But NOT typical to think about the community/culture that comes with the job.
There’s a high degree of likelihood that most of the communities you are a part of, simply came along with the specific need or desire you were looking to satisfy at the time, and you began to understand the culture of the community AFTER you were involved.
The People You Spend Time Around Have a Huge Influence on Your Thinking and Your Attitude.
It cannot be helped. We are emotional creatures in that everything filters through our emotions before our logical brain assesses what came through.
I would submit to you that while some of the communities you are in, you will stay in because the life result you are receiving weighs greater than the human result you are experiencing, there are others you may need to distance yourself from while looking to become a part of others.
An easy way to determine this is to consider your values, principles, priorities, goals, and if you are at this point in your life, your CAUSE. Then shine the light from this lens onto the communities you are in to see if they are compatible at a minimum, and if they serve these as an ideal.
There is a lot of truth to the adage that your success in life financially will reflect the people you spend time around. This is not the angle I’m endorsing here, just a classic example.
What came first? The success or the associations? My experience is that they come together, and actually support each other, because it is a shared focus that is mutually modeled, discussed, encouraged, and believed, as possible.
I continually share my “Cause” to help each individual achieve their best life possible because it is the best thing for all people on the planet. Why this is true is that someone being their “best self,” means they are a competent, confident, advanced version of their unique self, and therefor will progress in the directions they are called to be moving in, which is how we all come together and play our unique role for the greater good.
This is a positive, forward-looking, growth-oriented, abundant, unlimited perspective. As a result, I personally, am only in communities where this is the energy. There are a few communities where I am the lead voice, and a few others I have access to where I receive positive influence but am not as active in leading.
Facebook and other social media platforms are NOT communities in essence as they are more like worlds, but they ARE places where you can create or access communities. I treat my social media as a community in that, if someone is negative, I remove their direct access to me. I know they can still benefit from my content and messaging should they choose, but they cannot influence me through their choice of messaging.
I am self-aware and know my sensitivities while managing my own emotional roller-coaster, so I manage the input to my brain, because whatever goes in there has to support my values, etc. as it impacts how I show up in community with others.
See what I mean?
Here is the gist. To live your best life, which includes constantly improving yourself, your mindsets, your attitudes, your vision, etc. you need to be surrounded by people who are going to help serve this and that you can also serve.
If you are not in communities that are doing this abundantly, begin looking for some immediately. If you need to find some, I have two in specific that you can join where you will be guaranteed to receive positive, educational, encouraging, growth-oriented messaging and support on a consistent basis.
One is my Facebook Fan page, where you can come on a regular basis and engage with positive content and the awesome people that show up and the other is a private group that I run that is available to all but requires a specific mindset and another mutual connection to join.
Here is a video on my Fan page where I talk about some of the other aspects of why community is so important.
I encourage you now, especially now, to become part of some communities that will serve you in staying positively engaged in life, and focusing on your future.
It will help you, it will help you help others, and it will open up new doors for you to live and achieve your best life.
I hope you found this helpful. Feel free to share with fellow employees are managers/business owners.
Here is a recent video on How to Design an Awesome Life
Many Blessings, Todd
P.S. “3 Circles Living” will not only help you condition yourself properly, but it will also give you an exact formula for achieving your richest life possible. It won’t happen overnight, but it will happen!
