How important is support from your inner circle?

Hello, my friends,

I am excited to tell you this random thought. It´s about friends and family. The people we trust the most. Our “inner circle”.

We all learn a lot about the fact that it´s important to improve yourself and push yourself. But I think that the support you get from your inner circle is possibly equally important. This motivation and help for all your endeavors is crucial.

That´s why I have for you my three reasons why this motivating and supporting inner circle is so important and following my tips on how to improve and strengthen your inner circle.

First, my three reasons why your own supporting environment is indispensable.

1. They pick you up when you are down. When your world falls apart and you don´t see the light at the end of the tunnel, they are there to listen, calm you and lighten your day up again.
2. They motivate you to give even more than you think is possible. During this, they push you to higher levels than you thought is possible.
3. They help you to find new and process old information in other ways than you ever imagined. Just because, they know things and people that you don´t know. (By the way, this also goes the other way around!)

Now, some personal examples of mine that highlight their importance.

To 1): After school, I felt so exhausted and demotivated to do anything bigger. I was ready to bury my dream of studying biology. However, through the support of my family, I was able to slowly investigate the possibilities and finally, go to study Biology. And that even in the Netherlands. A possibility I didn´t dare to dream of after school.

To 2): Starting in university my first goal was to (just) survive it and be allowed to pursue my studies. But through the support of my old and new friends, I started to believe that more is possible. I started to work out, enjoy the studies, learned way more and achieved better grades than I dreamt of. In the end, I even finished my bachelor’s in regular time!

To 3): Talking with my family, my friends or my wife about my thoughts helps me many times to connect some information I read or found already a long time ago. And many times, they can even add some useful information or connect something more or bring my thoughts in a totally new direction.

There are plenty more examples, but I hope that those can highlight the importance of a good support system. This brings us to the next point. How do we get a good one or how do we keep and improve ours?

Hence, here they are, my tips on how to improve and strengthen your inner circle.

• Be open with your inner circle. Tell them how important they are for you and how happy you are to have them
• Support and motivate them. Look if there is something you can do to help them. Or lighten up their day with a spontaneous call or message. Live, struggle and dream with them.
• If you have a great idea for them or know something they might be interested in. Then, tell them or direct them towards it. Maybe refer them to somebody you know or tell them a place or person they should visit for a new insight or information.
• However, possibly most important is to ENJOY the time with them while you are together and exchange support and motivation.

When you nurture your support system while you enjoy being together with your friends and families you will radiate this enjoyment. People will feel good around you. When they feel secure around you, they will open up more and be more daring in things they tell you and suggest. On the other hand, you will feel and do the same. This will create a positive cycle.

I just randomly came up with a nice abbreviation. Tell me if you think it´s useful or totally unnecessary. The abbreviation is: “MOIE idee”. (Motivate, be Open, share Interesting ideas, and Enjoy). From the Dutch word “Mooi” which means nice. So, it´s a nice idea to strengthen your inner circle.

So, you can see that it´s extremely useful and important to have a supporting inner cycle. And hopefully, you will now appreciate your close ones even more and continue hedging and growing your personal support system.

Now, the only thing you need to do is start. Maybe you should call someone? Or do you have another MOIE idea?

All the best,

Alexander