Find your people through cycling
For me, one of the big benefits of taking up cycling 16 years ago was finding a fabulous community of like-minded individuals. And the bonus is that I keep meeting new people all the time. It’s not static. Many cyclists have come and gone in my life, and new ones arrive all the time.
Last Sunday, I led a women’s ride for my cycling club. There were just six of us which was a great number for an enjoyable day out on the bike. Five riders including me who have been club members for a long time, and one new person. She’d found us through social media, and our website, and even saw us riding a few months back. For most women (and many men), it’s really scary joining a new group of people for the first time, so I think she was really brave.
She needn’t have worried because she fitted right in, rode at the same pace, enjoyed our nattering, and at the post-ride café stop, declared “I think I’ve found my people”. It made my heart sing. That afternoon, she joined the club, bought the jersey, and has since joined us for another ride.
This declaration that ‘she’d found her people’, made my heart sing. It’s the reason I’ve been running (with the help of an awesome bunch of women), the women’s program of my cycling club, LACC for ten years, with no end date in sight.
So how do you find ‘your people’? Sometimes it’s sheer luck, it’s about being in the right place at the right time. Other times, it’s something you have to go looking for. You start with something you have in common like cycling, or any other hobby or pastime, and go from there.
If you’re lucky you find your tribe easily, but for others, you might have to persist and try different groups of people until you find your lot. In my case, you might even start something yourself, like a regular ride that leads to more.
My cycling club women riding friends are not my only group of cycling buddies. There are also my Concorders mates, some of whom I met when I first started riding. Several of them are now counted among my best friends.
It’s not necessary to have an exclusive bunch that you define as ‘your people’, you can have multiple groups that fit the bill for different reasons. As well as a fabulous bunch of cycling pals, I also have a diverse range of buddies from different parts of my life. I have friends from school, friends from Uni, friends from work, and my extended family are also my close friends in a way. You might have guessed by now that I’m a social creature.
The trick is to find a group of people that share the same values, as well as doing the same activities. In the case of cycling, you need to find a group of people who like to ride similarly to you. This can include the ride speed, the ride destination, the time of day, and their commitment to safety. You will only find these mythical people if you are willing like our new club member to take a chance. I’ve written about finding buddies before so feel free to read here.
The same thing applies to all types of activities. If you like running, you’ll probably find some local running groups. If you like painting, there are probably local groups in your area. And if you struggle to meet people, maybe taking up a new hobby will help you find ‘your people’.
Some of us are lucky enough to find the same feeling of being amongst ‘your people’ at work. My current job, which I wrote about a few months ago is one such environment. I feel comfortable and content working alongside the Yaffa Media team, and that’s about company culture. For whatever reason the culture suits me well. And cultivating a culture in an organisation is no accident. It comes from good leadership, respect for others, and shared values.
How will you know when you’ve found ‘your people’? That’s easy, it’s all about intuition, or gut feel if you will. I’ve always been big on intuition. Women (stereotyping, I know) usually have more intuition than men, but it’s not solely a women’s trait. Perhaps women just know how to use it better or listen to their inner voice more. When I used to run my father’s PR agency, I hired our staff based on intuition. Of course, they also needed qualifications and some experience (depending on the role) but I used my gut to guide my decisions, and it never failed me.