ADHD APPROVED | Get A Support Group

Thriving as a young artist/entrepreneur

WHY YOU NEED ONE

Peers, Mentors, and More

When you’ve finally begun to make progress in your goals, it can be easy to assume that, from here on out, you’ll always do everything right. Unfortunately, things will go wrong, especially if you’re on your own. That’s why it’s important to have a support group. Mentors, friends, family, and peers- anyone can be in your group, as long as they’re willing and able to give you good advice. Don’t forget, you have to be good right back to them! My support group mostly consists of family members, and their main function is to keep me from being impulsive. For me, it’s important to have a support group that tells you ‘no’. They keep me from making stupid decisions, like getting tattoos or going skydiving. You might want something different- a support group can let you know when it’s the right time to do something or can connect you to working professionals, or can help you gain confidence in yourself. Whatever you feel you need, you should structure your support group around that.

A support group can be useful for young artists and entrepreneurs. It can connect you to mentors and their peers who have good advice. Especially right now, when many of us have lost work or are unable to get work, it’s so important to have a group of people who will be there for you in the best and worst times. According to Dr. Susman, they can help you realize you “aren’t alone, reduce distress, and increase self-awareness”. Whether your support group is about keeping you from an edge or expanding your network, curating a group that works for you is extremely important. Abbey and Sameer of KIRUNIVERSE have some notes on how having a support group has helped them.

KIRUNIVERSE TEAM

What are their thoughts?

Abbey, who works with KIRUNIVERSE, says, “so for me personally, as I’ve begun to work towards building a career for myself, I find it’s really important to surround myself with like-minded people. At my age(21,) my friends and I are all at very different stages in life, with different mindsets. It’s so important to weed out the people who lack drive or don’t necessarily support me in my journey. The people who support you and believe in you WILL make it known, and you can support each other as you grow!!”

Sameer says;

“When pursuing a creative goal, it’s so important to have a support system. Since a creative career is non-traditional, it can often be difficult to explain to family and friends exactly what you are chasing after. It’s not like being a lawyer or accountant where you can go to school for it with a finish line.

It really helps to have your clear goal in mind and to try to insert yourself in that community. Finding others that have paved the path before you, mentors that can support you, and ones who can root for your success. If you don’t have a clear goal, it really helps to dive into one aspect and taste different things. If one wants to work in fashion, for example, finding out which part of the fashion cycle captures your passion. Is it design? Is it styling? Is it selling the clothes? You won’t know until you try them!

I believe that this is an ongoing journey. Interests change and evolve as we all tend to do! Finding your community can seem daunting at first. There are a couple of ways.”

He suggests trying to find a community through social sites such as LinkedIn and attending Zoom and Clubhouse talks in your industry. You can also go through the existing network to see who has connections. Ultimately, according to Sameer, “There are lots of ways to build your support system in what you are trying to build. The big thing is patience. Careers and goals take a long time to build. Document the process along the way, and in a few years you’ll be amazed to see how far you came!”

So clearly having a support system is important to those of us at KIRUNIVERSE, and you should make it important to you as well. Don’t be afraid to ask for help!

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Rebecca Hirsch is a New York-based creative writer. She writes industry posts for KIRUNIVERSE and blogs on the side. When not writing, she plays video games and listens to lots of podcasts. Follow her on Twitter!