Navigate the world through people.

After getting to know me and sensing my extroversion and social nature, my first life and business coach told me, "You navigate the world through people." The phrase has stuck in my head ever since, almost ten years later.

I sometimes get caught up in my work—pushing on some project, practicing an instrument, or writing for hours on end. There's a notion in my mind that input equals output: one hour of hard work yields one unit of great result. The harder the work and the more hours spent, the more assured success is.

And yet, that's not how it works. Of course, hard work helps, and putting time into any project is necessary for its success. But often, forces outside of ourselves conspire to help us achieve our goals in non-linear ways. A simple outreach to a friend may surprisingly unblock whatever work problem you’re facing.

This happened to me yesterday. I wanted to know how I could create a product that didn’t need to have my name associated with it. The resources online are almost endless—a vast, confusing sea. One conversation with a friend over dinner, however, provided answers to my questions, a resource for creating an incorporated entity, and strategies for maintaining practical anonymity.

People open doors for us. They help identify our blind spots and teach us the things we don’t know that we don’t know. They illuminate our path.

When you get stuck, how can the people in your world help you find a way through?

PS. I first wrote about this subject in this post. This is another riff on a theme that emerges again and again for me.