Finding your TRIBE | Sharing My Story & 4 Tips to Help

Hey Friends!

How has it been? I know things were a little rough these last few weeks and hopefully the “end” is near. Now more than ever we value the friendships we’ve built, whom we can turn to for support. A sense of community even greater than friendships where we can all share our experiences and relate to each other. As humans, we urge to belong or be a part of a community. I must admit, finding a close-knit group with individuals I could relate to and feel loved by hasn’t been the easiest. However, I am closer than I’ve been in years (p.s. I’m not discounting the friendships I currently have).

Growing up I’ve always held different interests to the groups I’ve been acquainted with or too afraid to open myself up to anyone for fear of judgement. Thanks to a little growth I realised I had to put myself out there in order to find my own tribe.

So what’s a TRIBE and WHY should you find one?

I thought I found my tribe during the later years of high school but that didn’t turn out well. After leaving for university I guess we sorta grew apart and while away it was even more difficult for me to grow real solid connections with anyone. To be honest, finding your tribe seems to be a trial and error situation just like everything else in life. Your tribe should encourage you to be your best self. They should also be people you’re able to connect to and grow with.

I first wrote this post in 2017 and since then I’ve made considerable headway to finding my tribe. Most of it is from online based connections (Twitter and Instagram) due to my blog and love for creating content. Recently, I’ve also been developing a tribe with another interest ~ my natural hair.

4 Tips to Help Find Your Tribe

KNOW WHAT YOU WANT – To find your tribe, you have to know what you want and who you are. When I first started this blog I wanted to connect with other bloggers, but more so Caribbean bloggers or black bloggers. I found that the blogosphere was really lacking in this aspect. Through social media I met a few individuals whom I connected with however not on the level I would have preferred. This was due to different variables such as age (not that it should matter), content niche, location and most likely me simply not putting in the effort. Funny enough I discovered someone on twitter who was just starting their blog and we eventually connected. Three years later and we’re still connected with each other and give support when it comes to branding and content creation. FYI I’m talking about Tanya from All About the Scrub Life (be sure to check out her blog)!

Use some time to actually think about this. What are you looking for in a tribe – people to create content with, travel with, learn something from or hang out with every weekend? Make a list of your interests. How many people do you envision would make up your tribe? You might as well put all this out into the universe.

IT’S OKAY TO HAVE DIFFERENT TRIBES – Don’t think you have to find the same people for everything. We all have different interests but it’s rare you may find someone interested in everything you’re interested in. Therefore, it’s perfectly okay to have different tribes. For example, your coworkers may be one tribe and your gym partners a next; if they’re the same people that’s even better. In my situation I’ve found that my club tribe may not exactly be the same as my content creation tribe. Even if it’s one or two people, I’m using the term tribe very loosely here. Don’t think you have to go out and find 10 new friends (unless that’s what you desire).

BE OPEN – You can meet individuals who can be a part of your tribe anywhere. Therefore, you should be open minded about meeting new people. Talking from (little) experience, I’ve met most of my content creation tribe online because that’s where we hang out. Another factor with being open is also not judging people as soon as you meet them. Yes, time is valuable but you can’t let one five minute conversation somewhere deter you from further conversations with that person. People may be different at first (fear of opening up at the first instance) and there’s also the possibility of someone having a bad day, so give it some time.

STAY TRUE TO YOURSELF – You know what you want and who you are, don’t let your desire turn into desperation in order to find your tribe. This relates to the first point where you should know the type of tribe you want to attract, however please remember to stay true to yourself. Don’t force yourself to be a part of a group you know you have nothing in common with. Being authentic will pay off in the long run, because you want people to actually like you for you.

All in all, finding your tribe is hard and takes real effort. Sometimes you find you’ll have to be bold and vulnerable if you truly want to find YOUR people. The beauty about it all is that there are people out there who we can relate to and find comfort in, we just gotta be willing.

How did you find your tribe?