Building a personal support team

(Originally posted on LinkedIn)

This year, I'm building a personal support team to better navigate the ups and downs of life and work.
 
My support team includes my therapist, my coach, and my astrologer. 
 
Others I rely on include my partner, family and friends, fellow coaches, and my yoga teachers.
 
Another person I'm developing a stronger relationship with this year is….myself.
 
And my support team is helping me do that.
 
They're helping me see, hear, know and understand myself, as well as trust myself more.
 
This last piece - trusting myself - is something I've struggled with for a long time.
 
I wasn't conscious of this dynamic until recently, but it's always been there.
 
Perhaps some of you can relate: you've spent your life being the capable, dependable, easy-going person that gets things done and spends your energy on other people - helping them, thinking about them, contorting yourself to be more accommodating toward them.
 
You've gotten so adept at this, that you actually forgot that YOU are a priority, too.
 
You're so oriented toward what others think, want, and need, you've ignored the insights your own body and emotions are sending you about what YOU think, want, and need.
 
Your self worth and identity is rooted in what you're able to do for others, and being seen and recognized for that.
 
But when it comes to trusting your own instincts, making decisions that are rooted in your own values and desires - you get stuck.
 
This is where I am - and my support team is helping me immensely in embracing a new way of being, feeling, thinking, and trusting.
 
My therapist helps me connect the dots of experiences from my past that still need processing, acknowledging, and releasing.
 
My coach helps me develop greater somatic and emotional awareness - my sense of inner knowing and intuition - and guides me to build and experiment with practices in my daily life to tune in and build my self-belief.
 
My astrologer helps me understand what the universe has in store for me and how I can lean into those dynamics to live a full and aligned life. (Here's a photo of us taken this week)
 
The topics I discuss with each member of my support team are surprisingly interconnected - and yet, that makes sense.
 
I'm a whole person, and the work in one area inevitably connects to the others.
 
Have you ever had an experience like that? Where the dots and threads from seemingly different parts of your life were coming together?
 
Let's be honest. You may also be skeptical about one or all of these types of support - and you're not alone.
 
I have come to appreciate each of these modalities, and to combine them, over many years of trying different things.
 
The makeup of a support team varies by person - it needs to fit you and what you're open to in this moment.
 
Regardless of what you're needing, know that it's courageous and an act of self-love to seek support.
 
If I can help you in any way as you explore building your personal support team, please reach out.