GET CONSCIOUS: HOW TO CREATE A LIKE- MINDED COMMUNITY

GET CONSCIOUS

I want to start off by telling you about an event I went to last night. An event run by The Conscious Club (pretty cool name huh!?) Curious what an event like this might entail? Well, let me tell you all about it.

The setting was beachside, at Bondi Pavillion, where close to 300 conscious-seeking and curious souls assembled and shuffled in to a dimly lit, packed theatre. The evening was filled with beautiful live music, a powerful and moving short film, an unbelievably informative and inspirational talk by the phenomenal Sarah Wilson (who writes a blog that I read religiously and has literally revolutionised the way that I look at sugar), a long, deep and soulful group meditation and then a delicious feast of vegetarian food and friendly chatter. 

All up, it was my kind of evening. I loved every minute of being there, and I walked out feeling aligned, open, truly inspired and like some deep, long lost inner spark had been ignited inside me. 

So, you can get a bit more of an idea of what this is all about, here some information about how it all started..

"Created by Tim Brown, Gary Gorrow and Lee Te Hira, on the basis that they and so many of their friends were tired of going to the same old pub or club, yelling at each other for a number of hours before coming home with nothing to show for it except a hoarse voice and a hangover. The guys realised that everyone is going out to clubs and getting UNCONSCIOUS, so they thoughts they would create a club where you could have a fund night out and get highly CONSCIOUS! And so was born, THE CONSCIOUS CLUB!"

Why am I telling you all this? Because I am wanting to emphasise the importance of creating a community. A community of like-minded peeps. People who inspire you, support you and make you want to become a bigger and better version of yourself. Do you have a community like that?

WHY IS A LIKE MINDED COMMUNITY IS IMPORTANT?

Have you ever been in a situation, where you wanted to make a change in your life? You wanted to do something new. You wanted to create yourself in a new way, or take a new course of action. If this is the case, there is a chance that it may feel quite unfamiliar, new or foreign. You may not yet be sure if it will work, or who you will have to become in order to achieve it. You heart may be calling you to make this change, yet your head continues to bark at you, all the reasons why you cannot do it. You may not have anyone to talk to about this or to share your dreams with as the people currently in your life do not know about this other part of you, and you are not sure what they will think.

Sometimes when we start to make a change in our lives, we feel like our new dreams are like little seeds. They are new and fragile. They need love, care and protection. We need to support them to grow and grow so that they can become solid and sturdy enough to break through the surface for all the world to see. In these early stages it is easy to want to hide away these new little dream seeds from others. We fear that if we share them they may be stomped on. We feel vulnerable and uncertain about this new person we are becoming and we are not sure they we will be accepted by our peers.

This is where building a like minded community helps. In your community, you will meet other people who are in the same situation. They too will have little baby dream seeds that need to be nurtured. It is a delicate time, and in order to stay on track with this new path you are carving, you need to surround yourself with people who will carry you there.

HOW TO BUILD YOUR COMMUNITY

Wondering where to get started in finding some similar, like minded, passionate and inspiring people? Well, here are some suggestions

1. ATTEND EVENTS

You are not going to meet these new types of people in the places you regularly frequent. You are going to have to start going to some new places. Start attending events that the people who you want to meet attend. Simply type your interest in to google. Eg: 'meditation events in Sydney' or 'writing workshops in Melbourne",  or 'learn how to sew clubs' or  'health food events'. 

Keep your eye out for events in your local area. Start looking at cafe noticeboards. Pick up flyers. Read other people's blogs and follow the links to other sites that interest you. Once you start looking for them, you will be surprised how they just seem to jump out at you.

Then, when you are there. Talk to people. There is no point sitting by yourself and then scurrying off as soon as the event ends so that you do not have to connect. Have the courage to approach a stranger and spark up a chat. Then, if you are both on the same page, exchange details and make a time to meet up. It is not as 'stalker-ish' as it sounds. Most people who attend these events are usually keen to meet new, like minded people too!

2. START A BLOG

Do you have an area of interest? Something that you are passionate about? Well, why not start a blog about it!

Starting this blog is one of the best decisions I ever made. Through this site, as well as my facebook and twitter pages I have created an amazing community around me of like minded people. This is a community where we can share inspiring information, support each other, and surround ourselves with people who have a similar purpose. These peeps have become my spiritual running buddies (a term I picked up from Gabrielle Bernstein).

You will be amazed at the following you can gather by simply being willing to share yourself and your ideas. You can connect with other people who have blogs you like. Ask them if they want to write a guest post for you. Leave comments on other blogs and start to form connections with people who are writing about what interests you. I have formed amazing relationships with fellow bloggers that I treasure deeply, and which I find extremely supportive. 

3. SHARE YOUR TRUTH WITH ANYONE WHO WILL LISTEN

You do not have to be at a networking event to talk about your passion. Start sharing this with anyone and anybody you meet. When people ask you about yourself, share your ideas with them. You do not have to talk surface bulls**t about what job you do, and what school you went too, blah blah. You can share yourself truthfully and authentically with anyone and everyone.

I used to be too scared to tell people that I wanted to be a life coach. I feared that they would look at me and think "As if YOU could be a life coach" Or I would hold back telling people about my latest way of eating (eg: green juice and raw chocolate pudding for breakfast) out of fear that they would think I was weird. (Trust me I have had a lot of people say that to me over the years, and I have learnt to take it as a sign that this person is NOT going to be part of my community, so I simply let them go).

You must be willing to be vulnerable and share your truth, authentically with others. By doing this you then create a space for others to be vulnerable, truthful and authentic with you too.

4. GET A MENTOR

You need people who can look up to. People who have what you want. People to model. People who will motivate you forward and show you what is possible.  A mentor will help do this. 

A mentor may be someone you know and get to spend time with, or it may be someone you admire from afar. However you do it, just find ways to immerse yourself in their work, their message and their guidance.

Wherever possible, surround yourself with people, not only who are on a similar journey, but also people who are above and beyond where you are now. Perhaps they intimidate you. Perhaps you do not feel worthy of spending time with them. Perhaps you wonder, 'why would they want to hang out with me?'. Forget all that. Just do your best to be around them. Read their work. Model what they do. Be in their energy. It is important to have people that hold you to a higher standard and show you what us truly possible.