Find you tribe, love them hard. I love this quote. A lot of the work that we do in growth, either personal or professional, is internal. We are the driving force behind our own changes. This is true. However surrounding ourselves with amazing, inspiring people allows us to have even bigger growth. Watching others do great things makes us want to be great. People providing encouragement as we break boundaries gets us that much further. Knowing that people have our back and provide a judgement-free environment allows us to jump out of our comfort zone.

Who is your tribe? Who are the people that you surround yourself with? Do they encourage you to reach for the stars or do they tell you all the reasons why your ideas won’t work? Do the people that surround you want you to live a life of greatness?

We are all different. We all have our own dreams and goals. Each of our tribes are unique. If you are a runner, or want to start running – find your local running club. You will be encouraged to run further and faster. You will have accountability to show up. You will be inspired by those around you. If you are a mother and feel like your doing this alone – go find other mothers, join the PTA, meet parents in the school yard. You are not alone, you just need to go and find them. Whatever your thing is, there are people out there for you. (Hint – you’re not going to find your tribe while your watching Netflix on the couch).

For years I wanted to try open water swimming. But I didn’t do it because I didn’t know anything about it. (It’s really as simple as getting in the lake and swimming). So finally 4 years ago I “searched it up” as my nephew says and found a group in Oakville. There was an entire group of people who love open water swimming! And not only do they love it, they are amazing. Olympians, Ironmen (and women), swimmers who have done the English Channel, Lake Ontario and Catalina Island crossings and people who swim “naked” (without a wetsuit) despite the water temperature. Wow! Talk about finding a tribe to inspire me. These are the people that I want to be around. These are the people that are helping me to become a better open water swimmer, convincing me that I WILL become acclimatized to cold water and showing me that there are no limits. They are doing this for me. Had I just gone to the beach on my own and started swimming it would have been good. But having this tribe has pushed me to race, swim farther than I ever would have on my own and inspired me to get into 65F water without a wetsuit.

I have tribes for all different aspects of my life. The one common theme among all of them is that they all raise the bar, encourage, motivate, inspire and support me. I have had success in many areas of my life because of the people I surround myself with. I would love to list all of your names but there are too many. You know who you are! xo

Be around the light bringers, the magic makers, the world shifters, the game shakers. They challenge you, break you open, uplift and expand you. They don’t let you play small with your life. These heartbeats are your people. These people are your tribe.