This article is written by Nicole Richards, a leader within the Guardian Academy (TGA), explaining why she wants to join the Guardian tier. You can also read her Capstone project, “The Impact Of Participation And Learning To ‘Play My Own Game,'” which is linked at the end of this article.
Why Becoming Guardian Is My Most Immediate Goal.
Every week I see and experience opportunities within TGA. When I first joined almost 4 months ago, this community appeared to offer many options and opportunities. It was difficult to decide how and when to participate. I continued to show up, look around, try different things to see what resonated with who I am and who I want to become. As time and randomness continues, many things have happened, been considered, some things acted upon, some things left behind.
Gift Of Proximity
I did not expect to come into a community and be given the gift of proximity to high level individuals and leaders who contribute and support each other at every turn, while being encouraged to participate and Play MY Game AND have FUN! Wait…did I really say FUN?
Having Fun
Submitting my original capstone, at the time of submission I didn’t understand the value or view it as a contribution. I submitted it because I was grateful for the proximity of the leaders in the community contributing to my personal and business growth and was inspired by other leaders who had submitted their capstones.
I applied to be on the council and have since been hosting morning coffee chats in the amphitheater. This has contributed to tremendous value being offered from members of our community joining in, getting to know one another, providing a place to ask question, receive guidance, suggestions and collaborations with others. This was essential to my growth. I began to understand Playing Your Game, Base Case, FOMO, Restraint, Open Loops, Getting closer to what I want instead of continuously adding more, clarity on what I want vs. what I thought I wanted, having a shared language, a variety of leaders helping through chat or getting on a call when assistance was needed setting up my base case and many other things along the way, a toolkit provided by many, to be adapted to playing my game. None of this would have been possible without the daily leaders inside of TGA who are there to help in any and every possible way, utilizing their superpowers! The education is incredible but the support around the education makes it valuable, application makes it priceless!
Meeting and getting to know others during coffee chat opened and continues to open up possibilities and proximity to others. This proximity has resulted in exploring and microstepping into podcast, co-hosting and hosting space jams and fireside chats with authentic support, without expectations or demands.
So many leaders in our community who contribute on individual levels and develop ways to give back to the community and beyond through contribution. Many lives being touched and contributed to in countless from leaders creating tools for others to utilize and share.
While contributing to the community has been an easy and fun journey, it is only because everybody contributes to each other and cares about the person they have the opportunity to contribute to. On a personal level, it required me to step up, ask for help, be vulnerable and accept what is genuinely offered and implementing it into my life. Being helpful and useful is amazing, feels fun and has never been perceived as work or something I have to do.
This community never stops! Everything I have mentioned has far exceeded my expectation but then more value is added by having proximity to exceptional leaders who Play THEIR Game. Leaders such as Nic Peterson, Doc The Wolf, Dan Nicholson, Dr. Jeff Spencer, Jeff Moore, Joe Polish, Andre Norman, proximity to collaborators and many others who continue to directly support guard and our community by living “Live to Learn, Give to Earn”! This is not an extensive list as we have proximity to many leaders, the mentioned leaders above have touched my life in a special way.
This gift of proximity has and continues to change my life daily. Applying the information and utilizing the toolkit and application has created more forward movement in my life than I could have ever achieved on my own. I feel like this is just the beginning of an amazing journey.
What I love and appreciate the most is the relationships I have been fortunate enough to build and continue to build every day. It’s not all about the perfect day or putting up fronts. I have had many people support and offer to support me during extremely challenging circumstances, this is the power of shared language and compassion for others. I would give everything back that I have learned and been gifted to be in close proximity of the wide variety of leaders we are gifted and I am proud to call them my family. Never underestimate the opportunities created through proximity and relationships!
Nicole Richards
I.F. You Can!