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Writer's pictureMaggie Martin Riley

What If Support Was Simple?

It just might be . . .


For stressed and burned out leaders, talking about support causes them to look at me with either blank stares, rage, or straight up dismissal.


  • “Support?  What?”

  • “Must be nice!”

  • “There’s no support for my role.”


Support can seem like a complicated and distant dream.


When in reality, it’s neither.


Support is actually pretty simple.  


The biggest hurdle is asking for it, allowing it, or taking people up on their offers of support.


After a tough c-section birth followed by a ruptured disc in my neck, I returned to yoga.  It was a familiar practice to me and seemed like an accessible route to start rebuilding the health and strength of my body.


But after being taken to my knees by injury, I showed up in the yoga studio differently.


I was humble.  


I cared more about some movement, not the bizarre “high-performance” yoga I had once taken on.


My intention was different.


This time around, I wanted to take really gentle care of myself.  I wanted to heal.  I wanted to be supported so as to not reinjury myself.


If you’re not a yoga person, it’s not a problem for this story.  You just need to know that ubiquitous to yoga studios are foam blocks.  I simply know them as “blocks” or “yoga blocks.”  They're straightforward tools.


My past self rarely used blocks while doing yoga.


My new self was eager to grab them.


I used them to help make poses more accessible, to prop up my body where it hurt, to reach the ground more easily, or to support parts of my body so that I could relax more deeply into a pose.


The blocks have always been there.


I just haven't always grabbed them.


Support, in yoga at least, turned out to be both available and simple.


 

It made me wonder, where else is there support that I just haven’t been willing to reach for?


 

Recently, I’ve found support:

  • When I planned a girls trip with friends, and my husband happily held down the fort at home

  • When a gentleman saw me carrying several boxes and bags and offered to lend a hand

  • In the office of a therapist who does EMDR which helped me process a startling incident from the summer

  • With a business coach who is helping me make sense of the entrepreneurial landscape

  • From my mom who is helping watch my kids one night


For me, asking and allowing are my typical barriers.


But I feel tired and lonely when I block or reject support.  


What’s your relationship to support?


  • Are you allowing it to come to you and willing to receive it?

  • Or are you white-knuckling it and unaware of the possible avenues for support around you?


As a coach and someone who cares about you, I fundamentally believe you deserve support.


I also believe that the best leaders know how to access and receive support.


Without it, our connection to our vision and our desired impact fades because of the stress and overwhelm that comes with trying to do big work alone.


My friend, perhaps this week you reach for the metaphorical yoga blocks and see what happens.


Cheering you on,


Maggie 


PS - I actually have an offer of support right here for you.  Right now, I’m offering a free hour long coaching session for high performing leaders.  It’s one hour dedicated to you.  You simply bring your biggest pain point or current struggle in leadership and we coach on it until you have a breakthrough.  It’s a great way to practice getting more support in your life.  Click HERE and it will take you straight to my calendar to schedule your free coaching session. 


I can’t wait to be part of your support team!


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