One Of The Greatest Lessons I Learned. Personally AND Professionally

I was raised by an amazing single mom. 

She did it all. 

✅ Worked full time to support us 3 girls. 
✅ Cooked for us. 
✅ Supported us both financially and emotionally. 
✅ Made sure our school work was done. 
✅ We made it to the dr, dentist and whatever else we needed. 

And impressed on us we had to be sure we could support ourselves. 

That no one would do it for us. 

So of course that meant assigning us chores to do.

Starting to work when I could start babysitting.

The thing about it was is I took away that I had to do it alone. 

❌ Without help. 
❌ Without support. 

In some instances it was an amazing lesson.  

I learned to be incredibly responsible for my finances and career. 

And in others, it wasn’t. 

And while that wasn’t her intention, nor was it the case for her (grandpa helped quite a bit). I didn’t correlate what I was seeing and hearing.

So It created a significant context for me. 

And that context, the lens I looked life through not only dominated my personal life, but my professional one too. 

I was the last person to ask for help at work

• From my boss

• From my team

It wasn’t until I suffered the loss of my sister AND I had a coach that I realized I couldn’t do it alone. 

• It was impossible. 

• I needed help. 

• I needed support. 

And by allowing myself to receive this it not only relieved a 100lb weight from my chest. 

It also deepened my relationships. 👩‍👩‍👧‍👧

With my team, peers, leader, friends and family. 

• They wanted to feel needed. 

• They wanted to feel that they were providing value to my life.

And it also opened up the door for them to ask for help and support. 🚪

The thing about it is, getting help and support doesn’t mean you’re weak. 

In fact. It means the opposite. 

• You’re strong. 💪🏼

• You’re vulnerable. 🙃

• You’re human. 🧍‍♀️

And in building a team and organization, it's impossible to do it alone.