A few weeks ago I asked the women in my She Builds Connection group a simple question.
What topics would you like us to talk about in future meetups?
As they shared their feedback, I noticed something interesting. Many of the women said they weren’t overly concerned about the specific topic.
At first, I wasn’t sure what to do with that. Because if I’m being honest, I spend A LOT of time thinking about the topics.
Will this one resonate? Will women find it valuable? Should I bring in a speaker? Should it be more educational? Should it solve a problem?
Then one comment surprised me and stopped me in my tracks.
The women explained that while the topic matters, it’s not really why they come. They come for the conversations the topic creates. They come to hear different perspectives. They come to share what’s on their mind.
They come to connect with other women who understand what it’s like to be navigating business, family, uncertainty, and all the things life throws at us.
Suddenly, something became obvious that I hadn’t been able to see – I had been focusing on the vehicle.
They were experiencing the destination.
The topic wasn’t the product. The connection was.
It reminded me of something I heard recently on a podcast – when we’re feeling stuck, one of the best things we can do is talk to someone we trust and ask them what they are seeing that you can’t. Not because they have all the answers, but because they’re not standing in the middle of the problem.
Sometimes we’re so close to something that we lose perspective. We focus on one piece while everyone else can clearly see the bigger picture.
That’s exactly what happened to me. The women in the room helped me see something that had been there all along.
And it makes me wonder how often that happens in our own lives.
How often do we become so focused on one aspect of a situation that we miss what’s actually most important?
How often are we searching for answers when what we really need is another perspective?
Sometimes getting unstuck doesn’t require a perfect plan. Sometimes it simply requires borrowing someone else’s perspective long enough to see what we are missing that’s been there all along.
