So let's talk about how to actually recruit support for your life -- how to find them, what to say and how to get them on your side so you get that “push” for your next life milestone.
First of all, when you go out and recruit support from others, make sure you know who you're getting it from. Ask yourself these three questions to see if they are the right person for your support team.
Do they want me to succeed?
Sometimes this is the unfortunate truth with friends or family is that you think they want the best for you, but they don't really want to see you go to the next level and leave them behind. So first question to ask is, do they want you to succeed? I know that may sound harsh, but that's the reality in a lot of situations.
Will they be happy for me?
So if you called up a friend or family or whoever you're getting support from and you told them about a big success or a big thing that you just achieved in life, if they weren't ecstatic for you or really happy for you, they probably aren't the right person to recruit to get support and are they somebody who cares about you.
Will they offer positive support?
Remind yourself that you want to focus on positive support, not negative. Not all support is good support, especially if it's somebody who wants to sabotage you or who doesn't want to see you pass them by in life. Beware of negative nancies and danny downers.
The next thing is to figure out who will be in this special support circle. There's a lot of different possibilities. One obvious choice are close friends and family. That can be a really good place to go, depending upon what you want support for.
But if you're facing a challenging time or setback, it might be best to find a therapist or counselor, someone who can listen to you and help you in a different way and on a deeper level than maybe somebody like a friend or family is able to at that time in your life.
Another source to try for support might be a coach or an accountability group or a partner. Whether you are trying to work out more or trying to achieve financial success, others can help. You could go to Facebook and find a Facebook group where some people can support you and help you. Or if you're going to work out at the local gym, get an accountability partner and you know what? At 6:00 in the morning, she or he is going to be at the gym waiting for you, and you're going to get your butt out of bed and be there because you don't want to let that accountability partner down.
In other cases, hiring a coach can be a really good tactic for helping you achieve goals and get through the place where you're stuck in business. A coach can help you strategically create a plan and hold you accountable to it so you reach the next level. Of course, this is a different kind of support because it’s more business related, but the same three questions from the first part of this article still apply!
How do you ask for support? It is not always easy. If it's family and friends, sometimes you can simply reach out to them and say, “Hey, I'm really stuck here. I really need some support.” Or try, “I'm working really hard to achieve this goal, and I really want you to support me with this.”
Or something as simple as, “Hey, I just had a really bad day. Can you just be there for me?”
My point is, don’t be afraid to communicate with your support system about what you need. And keep in mind that if you don’t find what you want in a certain person, there are always others. There's many people to get it from, and there are many types of different people for different types of situations.
So I hope that was helpful. If you enjoyed this, you're going to love the productivity tips and hacks that we have at smartagents.com/productivity.