Many of my hours are spent looking at what’s working and what’s not working in my life. In the area of support, I discovered two huge mistakes I was making.

1. I was too self-reliant.
2. I was looking to my marriage for too much support.

When I look at any successful business, they have teams. They have management teams, sales teams, marketing teams, accounting teams. So, why not structure my support system the way businesses do?

I challenged myself to think of all the different areas of me that needed teams: photography, parenting, home care, financial, mental health, physical health, spiritual health, marital health, etc. Through the years I’ve sought out the expertise, or just plain cheerleading, of other professionals. As a result, I have people in every area of my life who guide me, advise me, inspire me or simply get a job done that I can’t do, or bring myself to do, on my own.

There was a time when I was looking to myself and one or two close family members to head all of those departments. The strain that put on me and my relationships was neither healthy nor sustainable. The more I distribute my needs, the more progress I make. And, that progress leads to less pressure on myself and so much less pressure on others to be my everything.