Support Teams and Goals

Have you seen the show Ruby on the Style Network? The network describes Ruby this way, “Ruby is an amazing woman trying to lose hundreds of pounds without surgery, miracle diets or shortcuts. Just one person—mind, body and soul—in the fight to save her life.” Each week we get to see what it’s like to walk in Ruby’s shoes as a large person in a world that doesn’t always fit. I was hooked on the show the first time I saw it. Ruby is so inspirational, and she’s been successful at losing weight. But what I noticed about her success is that she has a whole team of people behind her.

Anytime you have a goal to achieve, you have to realize it’s not a solitary process. Assistance in some form is needed to make the process work. You’ll need to develop a support team of individuals to help you achieve your goal.

Remember that you’re not reinventing the wheel. Whatever your goal is, there are people who have done the same thing before. You don’t need to do things the hard way if you use the experience and knowledge of others who have been there and done that. Of course you will personalize your goal, but there are few original ideas in the world.

In order to keep you from giving up in frustration, make reaching your goal as simple a process as possible. That way, you won’t end up feeling like you have to do everything all by yourself. With a support team, you will have a group of people that can be counted on when times are tough and you’re at the end of your rope.

The team can consist of anyone that you trust and has your best interests at heart. Consider those closest to you such as family and friends, but don’t limit yourself to that group. Family members can be notoriously one sided in their opinions of you. In fact, they may be enablers that keep you from reaching your goal. Feel free to look outside your inner circle to people that are professionals in an area you need help.

You may want to keep your goals from certain people if you feel they won’t be supportive. Sometimes goals are like preemies — they need to be incubated a while before being introduced to the whole wide world. You want to be well established in a pattern of positive behaviors before you face naysayers.

If you are a spiritual person, you may want to involve people of your faith group. Become a part of a prayer group to increase your spiritual strength as you undertake this goal. For religious individuals, the spiritual component of the support team is an integral part of achieving their goals and should not be left out.

Another option is a mastermind group. A mastermind group is composed of people who are all working towards the same or similar goal. They may be at different stages on their path to success, but the benefit is that you will receive help from people who have been where you are, and help those who haven’t progressed as far as you have. Each person in the group is united in the fact that some day they will all achieve that goal.

Mastermind groups can be found on the Internet or you can create your own from among your family, friends, and acquaintances if you have the inclination. Mastermind groups are equally helpful for business and personal goals. Everyone in the group realizes that multiple heads are better than one.

What’s your opinion on this?