The Benefits of Inviting Supporters & Resourcers Into Your Life
We’re continuing to talk about this thought that despite how much we romanticize the notion, none of us are really “self-made.” If we’ve made anything of our life, it’s largely due to the help we’ve received from others along the way. Last month, we talked about the benefits and outcomes of inviting experts and challengers into our lives. If you haven’t read that discussion, click here. Now this month we are shifting over to the benefits and outcomes of inviting Supporters and Resourcers into your life. Remember, Supporters are simply people who believe in you. They would encourage you and even pray for you if you just asked. Resourcers are those who may sponsor you into their networks and go so far as to share resources with you. You can read an overview of all 5 crucial relationships you will need to help move your dream forward here.
So, we’ve established that the “self-made” man (or woman) is a myth and you will need to invite certain people into your life if you want to see you dream become reality. But, what is the real benefit of inviting these Supporters and Resourcers into your life? What can you hope to see in your life as a result of having these intentional relationships?
3 Benefits and Outcomes of Inviting Supporter and Resourcers into Your Life:
- You can fly on encouragement. Mark Twain once said, “I could go two months on a good compliment.” This speaks directly to the idea of encouragement. The fact of the matter is you will have some opposition as you chase your dream. Having Supporters and Resourcers in your life will offer you great encouragement. You absolutely need it. If you are well into the process, you know this to be true. If you’re still buzzing on the high from a newly discovered dream for your life, the encouragement will sustain you during the hard times.
- They create a web that will hold you and your dream up. You don’t need just one Supporter or just one Resourcer. You need many of each. Think of it like a spider’s web. One strand of that web is not all that strong on its own, but the many strands woven together create a tensile strength many times greater than that of the sum of the strands. Now, think of the strength a network of Supporters and Resourcers will bring to your dream.
- New networks = New Opportunities. This speaks, most specifically, to the Resourcers. Resourcers may be people who share time, energy, and even financial resources with you. However, their greatest contribution may be to simply invite you into their networks of people you normally would not have access into. What’s more valuable, a single Resourcer or a network of many Supporters and Resourcers?
One word of caution. Just because someone is a Supporter of yours does not necessarily mean they will be a Resourcer. Years ago, I was setting out to start a new endeavor that was quite risky. I was flooded with Supporters, even to the point that many confided that they wished they had my courage. Mistakenly, I assumed that many of my Supporters would easily translate to becoming Resourcers. But when it came time to build my network of investors, I went back to those who had been my biggest Supporters. I was surprised, and disappointed, to find out most of my Supporters had no intention of becoming a Resourcer, even the ones who wished they had my courage. It was a somewhat painful lesson I hope you can learn here without the personal pain.
So, what’s left for you to do? Make the ask. Make a list of those you believe would be Supporters and Resourcers of your dream and contact them soon to ask them to come on board with you. You won’t regret it. As always, we are here to help you discover your God-given dream and establish some of these crucial relationships in your life. Just click here to begin the journey.
