Throughout life, everyone needs a cheerleader.  When you were a teenager, it was your best friend.  They were there to encourage you to ask out that special someone, study for tests with you and help you die your hair for the first time…and then help you die it back after your parents don’t approve of “fire engine red”.

For the average person, a cheerleader is anyone in their life that can offer up meaningful encouragement and act as a sounding board for new ideas and implementation.

In corporate America, it becomes more of a challenge to have that special person in your life.  With more responsibility in the office and more on your plate at home, it gets harder to maintain relationships with the key people that keep you going.  Having people that can cheer you on in every aspect of your life will always keep a smile on your face.  It doesn’t have to be, and probably can’t be, just one person.  Your spouse may have an idea of what you do in your 9-5 job but they can’t be an effective sounding board, just as your childless co-worker probably won’t have a lot of ideas for Saturday craft projects to entertain your 3 year old son.

You need to find someone for each area of interest in your life that can help keep you motivated and on track with life.  Finding one or two people for all of your interest areas may sound overwhelming at first but it may be easier than you think.  Everyone has interests that they don’t talk about a lot.  There is probably someone in your current friend group that will share you interest in healthy eating or rock climbing.  It’s just a matter of getting to know your friends better.  Find out what they wanted to be when they grew up.  Get to know their likes, dislikes and find out how you can cheer THEM on in life.

This may be a little too Type A, but when you have your list of your cheerleaders, plan time to grab a drink and come up with a game-plan for how you can advance in that field.  Take a cooking class together, go to the local hot spot and meet more rock climbers, anything to keep yourself learning and engaged in the field.  There are plenty of free or cheap ways that you can learn more and stay social while you do it, and depending on the interest, maybe even get paid.