Finding my community while building Spacious

Finding my community while building Spacious “We recognize that community is rooted in a deep understanding of human social interaction, and providing value through social connections and cultural experiences that are fundamental to holistic wellbeing. We view you as someone who understands this well, and we are thrilled to give you ownership over this domain at Spacious.” That was the second paragraph in my original offer letter for Spacious that I got on a Tuesday night around 11pm, in the early spring of last year. I had interviewed over the course of a month — with Jaclyn, Chris, Tom, Mei Lin, and Preston. I sat (nervously) in three different locations for hours, having conversations while trying not to be overwhelmed by what I was witnessing around me. There were actually people sitting in empty restaurants. They were talking to one another, saying “hi” in the hallway between big leather dining booths at DBGB — sitting on the patio at Public in early days of springtime sunshine and getting things done. It was the greatest thing I had seen in a long time. From that moment on, I lived and breathed Spacious. I told my husband that I wasn’t sure how I could find the energy to do anything else if I wasn’t going to be a part of Spacious. There was something special happening right outside my door, and I needed it to include me. You may assume I’m being dramatic. But it really felt that way. And it still does today. I thought about Spacious and community from every angle before my first day. I definitely watched every TED Talk and ready every article that included the keyword community. “Why the hell did they hire me?” Of course, I was deflated my first week. “I have no idea what I’m doing. I don’t know how to BUILD a community”. I tried all kinds of events (I ended up sitting alone a lot), I worked until 10pm every night. I introduced myself to anyone who would meet me. I had no idea what I was doing. I laugh now because it sounds ridiculous, but I can remember believing that was the task at hand. I had no idea what community would so quickly come to mean to me. Well — the first thing (and most relieving) thing that I learned was that it was never actually up to me. The community at Spacious is a layer. Sometimes it’s on. Sometimes it’s off. But it’s always right where you need it to be. Spacious is a product that allows you to work efficiently and effectively, no matter where you are — but the people inside Spacious are a community. We don’t dictate how members choose to engage with each other or how they think about their community. We are the platform, the technology, and the facilitation, but it’s the people within these repurposed walls who are building this thing. I just proudly fly the flag every day. My friends are at Spacious. My colleagues are at Spacious. We’re a big and diverse network of people, in cool spaces, building a lot of incredible things. This keeps me inspired every single day. Our team doesn’t have an office — we’re spread throughout hidden spaces in multiple cities, on any given day. Before anything else — we’re Spacious members too. In the morning, I usually receive 4–5 texts asking “Where are you working today?” Sometimes we talk. Sometimes we don’t. Sometimes we just sit next to each other and occasionally ask for input. Our members have sat within Spacious, alongside me, as I laid my bricks — our community has been the place where I’ve asked for support, ideas, connections. “Great e-mail, but what about this?” Our members have always approached me with a spirit of constructive feedback and generosity and have helped shape and change how I fundamentally view the future of work and the huge part that this community will ultimately play for me. Spacious is a startup. If it ended tomorrow, I would know that having been a part of this community has made me a better me. More than that, I would know that I’ve worked side by side with a lot of people trying to do the same thing — and, just like I would do for them, most of them would do whatever they can to help me. That’s community. In an increasingly disconnected world — that’s the magic that ensures we stay human. We remember that we’re all in this together. If you haven’t experienced this feeling at Spacious yet — I promise you: This community is here for you, whenever you need it to be. I’ve been my own greatest experiment at Spacious thus far — it truly works for me. After all the years I’ve lived in New York — Spacious has become my very first anchor. It checks all the boxes for utility, but more importantly, it’s really has changed the way I think about work, how I collaborate, and how I view every new possibility in front of me. I’m not limited by the boundaries of one work place, one industry, one location, or one “type” of community. On any given day — I walk into any of our locations and I know some people and I don’t know others. I’ve watched countless companies launch across our network of spaces. A lot of us hugged “goodbye” before our most recent holiday “break”. Spacious is the common thread and the foundation for a lot of relationships that have become very significant to me. The people working from repurposed spaces in busy cities, building and growing on their own terms are exactly the type of people I admire and aim to be. That’s what gets me up in the morning. It’s a toolkit and a place. Spacious is my town. I can be a facilitator and a navigator and help raise others up by connecting in meaningful ways. Most importantly, this town has taught me the impact (and magic) of belonging to a community.

How can I get self motivated?

It’s 5 in the morning, the alarm is ringing, I dismiss the alarm and jump off the bed. Starting the day with a cup of coffee with 30 minutes of reading, then I put my running shoes on and go out for a run. While this is a great way to start the day and this might keep you filled with motivation throughout the day, this doesn’t work for everyone and not even me. I find it very difficult to wake up in the morning, even though I plan to, and this fills my morning with low motivation and the regret of not being able to wake up and wasting a lot of morning productive hours. To be more realistic there is no connection between motivation and your ability to wake up early in the morning. Yes, it is true that waking up in the morning does give one added hours, but I like getting things done at night and that is when my creativity is flowing and I am highly motivated to get things done. Waking up early would mean to give up on my most productive hours as I will have to sleep early to get a good sleep. I do wake up early but not that early. So this was about the start of the day and this is one of the most common reasons why most of us are not able to motivate ourselves and start the day because the guilt of not being able to wake up early. There is no single answer that I can tell you, that you start applying and are motivated. It might be the reason why you are reading this post, but motivation doesn’t work like this. There is no single way to get motivated, motivation works differently for everyone. You can get motivated by watching a video or reading an article or maybe just after a fight. Motivation is about your driving force, it is yours, so no one else can tell you how to get that self motivation in you. The thing that motivates me might just demotivate you or maybe might not even make sense to you. Motivation is not about loving or enjoying what you are doing, but motivation is all about the whys in what you are doing. Motivation is the hope, the desire that drives you to do a particular thing. Motivation is not a goal, but it is more about the excitement on the way to that goal. Self-motivation is an art of finding that reason to get excited. Motivation is not something that you achieve, but it is that power that makes you achieve. So get out there, find the things that excite you, the reasons that push you towards taking actions and achieve that goal you want to achieve.