Why Collaboration Matters and How to Find Collaborators

How are you doin’ out there?

Me? In all honestly, it’s been a little up and down with the ongoing pandemic and forced isolation.

But this morning was definitely an UP moment. I got OUT of the house and went on a walk with a good friend and fellow extrovert.

For two normally positive souls, we spent (excessive) time venting about #covidlife before diving into what’s coming up for us in life and biz.

And, we both felt better. Sunshine and friends can do that.

We asked each other good questions, got some new ideas or ways to think about things, and got some exercise.

Our walk ended with several hundred really loud geese flying over us toward the large pond we’d been walking around.

Honking out their encouragement to one another, the geese all flew in V’s in the same direction with a singular goal in mind…land at the pond to rest and refuel for the next leg of their journey south.

That’s how I felt about our walk – we walked and squawked. But unlike the geese, we also got unblocked (or at least I got some massive clarity on an idea I’d had).

(Yep, I think #walksquawkunblock might need to become a hashtag.)

There’s something about connecting with other brilliant women that gives us the support, encouragement, and clarity that we just don’t get when we tackle everything alone.

Especially when it comes to working through our ideas.

Even your average goose KNOWS they can’t make it south for the winter alone. They need their team to fly in formation so they can go further. And, they can honk at each other too, to cheer each other on.

So, what, exactly is my point here?

Collaboration works for us too.

There are SO many benefits. Here are my favorites:

• We find clarity on our ideas.
• The group dynamic and social aspects is super helpful in getting us to take action on those ideas (think geese here). There’s an element of accountability when one of our collaboration partners asks, “Hey, how’s that thing going?” Or when we commit to having something done by the next session pushes us to get that thing done.
• It’s fun to connect with others and hash out ideas.
• We can work through and solve problems we’re facing and just get ideas from others that truly help spur and challenge our own thinking.
• We learn and get new perspectives from others.

Finding clarity on our ideas and the energy to take action happens when we connect with one another.

And, it’s WAY more fun than doing it alone.

So, do it with someone and to expand and extend your creative work. You can do this in a few ways, and some are paid, some are free:

Paid options:

• hire a coach to work with
• sign up for a LIVE (not pre-recorded) group program or course where you can connect with others related to the topic of your creative work ie. writing, painting, collage, art journaling, soul journaling etc.
• sign up for an ongoing mastermind/collaboration group that’s focused on your topic – I’m currently putting one of these together for writers so get on my mailing list if you’re interested.

Free options:

• find local or online people who are working on similar projects or in similar mediums and invite them to have co-creating sessions or feedback sessions.
  • I have a podcast episode on how to set up thinking partnerships if you’d like to dive into this a bit further.
• use social media! This is one of the best uses of social media. There are SO many groups geared toward every topic imaginable, especially on Facebook. Find some groups and begin engaging.
• Ask a trusted friend if you can bounce some ideas off of them and offer to reciprocate if they need some support.

If you’ve got any other grand ideas on how to find collaboration partners, leave them in the comments below!

xo,

Amy