Community: Where Growth, Satisfaction & Strength Converge.
Announcing My 2024 Word of the Year!
Have you ever met someone and knew, intuitively, that they were special? It’s a feeling of instant connection, of familiarity, and of faith.
Well, something other than a person recently hit me just like that. It’s my 2024 WOTY (Word of the Year). It certainly felt strange, and strangely spot-on. I had two other contending WOTYs, but one day this past summer, I realized that a third word was THE word.
You see, 2023 had been my year of Reflection, which seemed fitting, as DRIVEN was celebrating 10 years of client service. What started out in 2013 as an ecosystem for motivated professionals to experience personal and professional development has since evolved quite a bit. Nonetheless, an enduring source of growth, satisfaction and strength has been my network. I’ve come to think of this extended group of cherished colleagues as my community, and Community as my Word of 2024!
I hope you’re excited to explore the concept of Community with me in multiple dimensions this year. After all, it’s no mystery that Community boasts a plethora of positive powers.
Community provides:
- Support and Safety: Considering the fact that safety and security appear on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs right above the needs for breathing, water, food, shelter, clothing, and sleep, Community involvement is crucial. That is, if the community is one where psychological safety is present and maintained.
- Connection and Belonging: Belonging is essential to humans. Exclusion affects the dorsal anterior cingulate, which is the same place in the brain that registers physical pain. When we feel connected, we benefit from a feeling of gratitude. The result? A full DOSE of happy hormones is ignited.
- Motivation: Sometimes you need that extra push that comes from feeling accountable to a group. We are motivated when people witness our successes. We become inspired to get back up when our community cheers us on after a misstep or failure.
- Sharing & Learning: In a supportive and safe community, members feel genuinely seen and heard. This allows for vulnerability, which, in turn can lead to sharing our experiences, our point of view, and our fears and aspirations. Voila! Everyone benefits from the wisdom of the crowd. When we feel safe, we become emancipated to contribute, and open to learning from others’ experiences.
- Networking Opportunities: Whether it be asking for a client connection, inquiring about someone to assist with your resumé update, or wanting to invest in a coach or therapist, a vibrant, active network of like-minded people will boost your confidence. Think about it; a definition of confidence is “a belief in one’s ability to succeed— a belief that stimulates action.” When we tap into network resources, it diminishes the burden of taking on the world, solo (phew!)
Now, if these affirmative attributes are born of Community, why has the Surgeon General declared that our country is suffering from an epidemic of loneliness?
Consider three reasons for loneliness:
1. Stress leads to isolation. After enduring a pandemic, we haven’t given ourselves the chance to restore our nervous systems. Think about it: We were on high alert for a year before a vaccine was developed to protect us from a disease that has taken millions of lives worldwide and continues to plague those who are battling long covid. The fact is, prolonged stress fogs our prefrontal cortex. This translates to being more narrow-minded and short-sighted. Our social peripheral vision shrinks, leaving us feeling isolated and alone.
2. Analysis Paralysis. There are millions of choices for joining and becoming part of a Community. I recently noticed that even WhatsApp is promoting community opportunities. And this plethora of opportunities, itself, can be overwhelming, leading to both FOMO and loneliness.
3. Social Media is like drinking ocean water to stay hydrated. People assume and believe that social media is a form of Community. And yet, it contradicts many of the positive outcomes derived from Community as listed above. I’ll leave it to you to peruse the benefits of Community and determine how many contradict the feelings derived from social media.
Ready for the good news? The three listed roadblocks to immersing yourself in Community begin to dissolve when you consider shifting your mindset. In other words, if you are intentional, you can easily enjoy the benefits of Community.
Consider three reframes to reap the benefits of Community:
1. A commitment to participation: Like RSM partner and superstar Christa Clark once said, “You get out what you put in”. It’s analogous to a gym membership; you can pay your monthly dues, but that doesn’t keep you fit. The way to become part of a Community is to embody the culture and participate in order to build a shared history.
2. A desire to build relationships: Once you join a Community that supports your interests, values and aspirations, get curious. Make a promise to yourself to learn about others. If you’ve just felt a shiver go up your spine, take a breath. Building relationships comes down to having conversations. And we introverts are good at that.
3. A willingness to practice compassion: The power of a Community is that we grow together. We also tend to become more familial and less formal in some instances. This means we will let our guard down and see others unguarded. When mere mortals invariably stumble, disappoint, insult and ruffle feathers, we get to be generous with our compassion. And when we practice self-compassion, we can be truly compassionate to others.
Consider this article to be a stamp-sized glimpse of what will become a 2024 postcard mosaic of the exploration of Community. I invite you on the journey to consider how to create a Community culture that is attractive to you. After all, each family, organization and even society has its own culture. As my dear colleague Catharina Wohlecke-Haglund writes in The Feedback (r)Evolution, “Culture is simply the sum of what the people within an organization do and the ways they do it”.
Are you ready to explore Community with us? It’s a big ask, as 2024 promises to be a challenging year of attention-grabbing headlines and events. Just remember that DRIVEN stands ready to provide you with the tools and insights to make it all possible!
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