Personal Success is a Team Effort

By Nichole Giles

Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to attend a workshop hosted by the League of Utah Writers. (Thanks Tobyn and Roxy!) They had fantastic presenters and it was a fun way to spend my Saturday.

Angela Eshler, Author and former editor for Covenant, gave the final class of the day. Something she said during that class struck home for me. She was talking about the importance of face-to-face contacts, and making personal connections. She said, “Your success does not ever have only to do with your efforts alone.”

Now, if you read these posts about Sneezy and Happy’s indoor soccer team, you probably understand why this rang so true to me. Because after the writing of a book is finished, there are so many other people behind the scenes making sure that book becomes a success. Other authors, agents, editors, cover designers, a marketing team, booksellers, advertisers, and on and on and on. This is your team. And you’ll have far better results in the long run if you make efforts to have more than a working relationship with these people.

I think the same way of thinking is true for everything in life. None of us succeeds all by ourselves. We need the help of our team to make life valuable. It’s why so many of us choose to have families.

Look around you. Who’s on your team? Are you making an effort to help those people succeed in the same way they’re helping you? If not, maybe it’s time to start.