Humans value community. But the value of community is changing. Historically, community has been based around where we live. Our friends, our groups and even our customers came from our geographic area. For good or for bad, the community you were attached to while you were growing up was based on where you were born or where your parents moved to. It’s why being born “on the wrong side of the tracks”, a phrase I used to hear often, was an anchor that would hold individuals back. Sometimes, for life. The kids born in better areas had advantages that those other kids would never have. In many cases, that’s still true. But I personally felt this shift about ten years ago. It’s when I realized that I had great friends, connections and even new clients- and few of them lived where I lived. It was this odd, perspective-shifting realization that the people that I connected with best lived in different parts of the world than I did. And we actually had deeper, more meaningful conversations than I had with anyone within my local community. It boggled my mind even more once I really paid attention. I went to my kids’ baseball games and intentionally tried to have slightly deeper conversations with my local friends. Something beyond what they were doing on the weekend, what their spouse did that annoyed them or what show they were currently watching. And I constantly came away empty. Just because they lived near me or our kids played together, didn’t make them a good friend or connection. It didn’t mean that we had anything in common. Yet that was my community. But in the often disparaged online world, I found deeper connections. There were people that I would meet virtually where I could have two hour, meaningful conversations that lit me up and often inspired them as well. What was this bizarro world that I had entered? How could I have people in Philadelphia, Texas, and Great Britain that I have so much more in common with than the people that lived on my block? It ‘s because our definition community is changing. The best communities are created with intention. Whether it’s local or online, the communities that thrive have a sense of purpose. They have strong boundaries. They support the people within the community and create a sense of belonging. What’s fascinating about this shift is that no longer do we have to be told what community we are a part of. Even if we were raised on the wrong side of the tracks, we have the ability to join communities online that connect us to people who are doing what we love doing as well. What’s even more special is that these communities are becoming more and more niched. The days of local business meetups where there is little in common besides being in business and living in that area are shifting. There are now communities built for divorced dads, vegan baking, leadership for realtors, solo cleaning business owners, entrepreneurial pastors, Taylor Swift fanatics- aka, Swifties, bait finesse fishing enthusiasts, amateur doodlers, and a million more. Those specific, micro-communities are very difficult to find, create and develop locally. But online, the world is full of unique and endless potential. But it gets even better. You can create your own community. That’s right. You. Every one of these communities was started by someone who valued the idea of community and had the dream, hope or vision to now lead others. That’s where leaders step up, even if they haven’t led before. They have something that they want to create- their own community- because what they see hasn’t been done before, or they have a different version of something that’s already being done. That’s exactly how I started in this space. Maybe you are an author. I firmly believe that those who write books, especially non-fiction books, are missing huge opportunities to spread the message of their book, but to also use those books to bring certain types of people together. And instead of creating a community around that book, they spend all of their marketing time trying to sell a copy of their book. It’s one of the biggest mistakes that authors make, but most of them are so bought into the idea of selling as many books as they can that they miss out on the golden opportunity to build a community around their book. It’s the same for people who have a passion for a certain topic, those who have a skillset that is unique and valuable or those who create content on a fairly regular basis. And you don’t need to be the expert to create a community. You just need to be the one willing to step up and lead. My question for you today is this. If you were to create a community, what would it be? I’d love to hear these ideas! Feel free to respond to this email and let me know. Maybe it will be featured in the newsletter in the future! Have an AMAZING week! Vincent | 
