I’ve noticed a pattern in how some of us think about success. It’s the belief that success is a ladder with limited rungs, and that helping someone else climb means losing our own footing.
That’s not how it works. And it’s not how people work, either. It’s the exact opposite, in fact.
When we help a neighbor reach our level of success, whether that means sharing knowledge, resources, or simply refusing to hoard what we know, we aren’t diminishing ourselves. We’re not giving away our edge. We are doing something far more strategic, and far more human… we’re building a team. A community.
Think about what actually happens when the people around us grow. They bring new energy, new ideas, new capacity. The problems that once required everything we had to solve alone can now be tackled together. The ceiling we were pushing against by ourselves suddenly has more hands on it. When we all push for better, together, the pushing gets much easier.
This is how strong communities THRIVE.
The fear of being overtaken is real, but it’s worth examining closely. Most of the time, it’s rooted in a scarcity mindset. It views success like a fixed pie, with a worry there aren’t enough slices. But human potential isn’t a fixed pie. It’s virtually unlimited, if we work together and demand more of it. The easiest way for us to get ahead is if we pull up our neighbors and start collaborating.
We’re not giving up ground, we are gaining allies! And together, we’ll all reach a level none of us could have gotten to alone.
Let’s help pull our neighbors up this ladder of life, and climb much higher than we ever thought possible.
Warm regards,
Jimerson Adkins