Seek out and find new people who inspire you

When life gets into a rhythm, it can be easy to forget how powerful it is to be in the presence of new and passionate people.

But often, different people bring out a different side of you, and you really need a mixture of all of these sides of you to feel “whole.”

If you dig deep, you may realize there’s a part of you that isn’t being nurtured or expressed. And finding other people along a similar journey as yours is one of the best ways to help you feel connected and confident to express and live into that part of you.

So I’ll tell you my story:

Today, as I got ready to plug away at another well-paying project, I reflected on how far I’ve come in the past 10+ years. When I began my business, I was so excited to have a client who would actually pay me $80 every month for a simple report. $80 of recurring revenue! I thought to myself. Wow, this is good stuff.

Then, as my business grew, and I invested in branding, partnerships, my network, and myself, and I gradually began charging more and winning larger projects based on the demand for my services.

This was a good thing. I increased my hourly rate and my average project price quintupled in value over the years. (By the way, the biggest jump in my service fees happened after I invested in branding my business, but more about that another time.)

Jump to today, and I have even more demand, larger projects, and a larger amount of monthly recurring revenue than I could have ever hoped for. Business is good, and work is never slow.

But, there’s a flip side to this kind of success… and it’s one that many of my friends don’t fully understand.

For freelancers, being successful often means being tied to an equation where every hour you do or don’t work  directly affects your income, as well as having to constantly weigh the relative importance of doing work you truly care about versus work that brings in the most financial benefit.

However, most of my peers don’t understand why I would ever complain about my well-paying, , ultra-flexible, self-employed career. Yes, I find myself saying to friends, the one that allows me to take my family to Costa Rica for 5 weeks, pick up my kids every day from school, take off days in the middle of the week almost whenever I want and basically make money from my desk or a laptop virtually anywhere or anytime I choose.

OK, you get the point. I’ve got it pretty good.

But what if I wanted more?

What if I wanted to affect meaningful change in many people’s lives? What if I wanted to make the world a better place because of my contributions to society? And what if I wanted to be so passionate about my work that I felt inspired and excited about it every single day?

Well, I do.

And it just so happens, that I recently met a bunch of other people that feel the same way.

People who are passionate about their expertise, and sharing it with the world. People who have found different ways to share and grow what they believe in. People who want to make the world a better place and help others make a difference too.

In these ways, these new friends are just like me! But I didn’t really know this was possible. In my own way, I felt like my desires and hopes were so unique and unconventional, that what I was looking for and searching for was unlike anyone else’s journey. Turns out there are all sorts of people I am now connecting with who share these desires. I just had to look for them.

And now, thanks to my this inspiration from others, I am thinking about new ways to grow my business. New ways to help more people. And chatting with people on a daily basis about how they are doing work that not only brings in a level of financial success, but also is work they are passionate and excited about and allows them to share their expertise with a larger audience.

These new friends live not just in Sonoma but also all over the world, and they’ve opened up a new community of support, inspiration, and like-mindedness that I heretofore didn’t know was possible.

There is nothing like a firsthand account from someone who’s been in the same place or is going on the same path to put the wind under your sails and help you move forward on your own journey.

Yes, I love the crafty people, the dedicated mothers, the tech-savvy coders and web designers – these are all people I call my friends and who bring out a side of me that I cherish.

But sometimes you need new inspiration that brings out another important part of you.

And that is why, I encourage you to seek out people who are on your same journey, in an area you haven’t sought out before. They may be a step before or behind you, but are headed in the same direction. And the inspiration that comes from the like-minded path – the values, ideas and resources you share – will help another part of you thrive.

Surround yourself with inspiring people, and you will soar far.

What part of you could use new inspiring connections?