The Adventurer’s Guild Guide

Guild guide, you say? Now, why would anyone need a guide to guilds? Well, fellow Adventurer, your guild, your tribe, or whatever you may call it, all refers to the same thing. It is the group or groups of individuals you find the most belonging with and who add the most value to your life.

So then why would anyone need a guide to what is essentially one’s friend groups? Simple, I say: we are on a quest, and when on a quest you need fellow companions. Would your current friend group go on this quest with you? Would you even bring up your goals, money ones included, with them?

If so, then great, you have a guild to quest with you!

However, I’m going to take a guess and say probably not, right?!? Well, that is why I’ve put together The Adventurer’s Guild Guide.

This is but a starting point to get the basics laid out. I’ll touch on the importance of having a guild and how an Adventurer would go about finding one.

Why a Guild?

I think it is only fitting to call the group of people you collaborate with your guild. For good measure, I looked up the definition of a guild:

guild (noun): an association of people with similar interests or pursuits; especially, a medieval association of merchants or craftsmen

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Which sounds like the perfect word to me. Regardless of whether you use guild, tribe, or something else, it all comes down to having a group that supports your goals and adds value. For a lot of us, the first guild we go looking for is a gaming group: a table of people who keep showing up for each other, session after session.

The Value of a Guild

Now, Adventurer, we need to get real for a moment, since your current friends may not be your guild. I know that is a sad thought to have. But think for a moment: do the people you spend the most time with have similar goals and dreams as you? Are they willing to grow with you to achieve new heights? As well as challenge you, all while supporting you?

If your answers are no, then they are not your guild. Which isn’t easy; however, it doesn’t mean you need to go and dump them all right now. It just means that you are going to need to put in extra effort to find your guild.

I will say that if your friends are against your goals and are actively holding you back, then please do dump them. There is enough noise around us already that having toxic people on top of it all is not worth your time.

Since your guild should be adding value to your quests and adventures, they need to both support and challenge you in everything you do. In the book The Wisdom of Finance, Professor Desai makes a wonderful comparison between your stock portfolio and your guild.

To paraphrase what Professor Desai says: one needs to diversify their friends in a similar manner as one diversifies their stock portfolio, so as to reduce the risk and increase the value. Essentially, having friends who are too similar will not add enough value to your life and will likely result in disaster when you need them most.

What makes for a great guild

Trust, honesty, compassion, shared interests, I could keep going on. The point I’m making is that what makes a great guild is the ability to elevate yourself to new levels. And no guild guide is going to tell you what that is for yourself. My social guild has become a group that I would consider family.

We all have different personal and professional goals; however, our social goals line up. We can be honest with each other and rely on each other for emotional support. Which is wonderful for me, because I don’t often find people I can trust that much. Plus, we are a bunch of weirdos; we even have matching guild shirts.

So, the key point is that your guild should align on a goal and be trusted to have your best interest in mind. And remember, you can’t expect others to support you if you are not willing to support them; that is what makes finding a good guild so difficult.

Adventurer, it is also important to understand that having more than one guild is okay. We can’t expect one group of people to meet all our needs. However, you also need to remember that you become the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with. So, spend your time wisely and focus on what you need most.

Finding Your Guild

The funny thing is that before this article became the Adventurer’s Guild Guide, it was going to be an article specifically on finding your guild. So, here are some quick tips.

Step 1: It all starts with you

Okay, Adventurer, second time today we are going to get deep. The first step to finding your guild is taking a look inside yourself to uncover what you want to achieve. Are you looking for Adventurers who can teach you a unique skill, do you want to grow your network, or are you wanting to play Dungeons and Dragons?

You are going to need to develop an understanding of what you are seeking and why. I suggest writing it all down, because you might find that there are some similarities between different wants.

For myself, I found that even though I already had a group of very supportive friends, I was still seeking other Adventurers looking to learn more about business and personal development. So, together with my co-workers, we started a book club to help achieve that goal.

Step 2: Risk it for the biscuit

The second step is getting into the right frame of mind. Trying new things can be scary, and dealing with failure is never fun. However, in order for us to grow and learn new things, we need to be able to deal with the challenges we may face.

For instance, I would prefer to stay at home and do my own thing. However, I know that I’m not going to get very far in life if I don’t meet new people and learn from them. So, I do it, and I will say that going out to meet new people through something you love makes it a whole lot easier. That is why I love PAX so much.

Step 3: Go forth and meetup

Now that you know what you are looking for and have entered the right mental space, it is time to take action. And there is a great place to do it: Meetup.com has every kind of group you could think of, and if not, you can start one.

I’ve attended several real estate investing get-togethers through Meetup and have always enjoyed my time there. It is really reassuring when you realize that there are other people looking for the same thing as you. The same goes for gaming: a game night at your local game store is a great place to find your table.

So, Adventurers, go out there and find your guild, or at least start to look.

Closing the Guild Guide

There we have it, Adventurer: a basic overview of a guild, what its purpose is, and how to find one. I know how easy it is to get into the habit of thinking you can do it all alone, but you can’t! And the sooner you realize that, the sooner you can start to put together your guild. Because once you have an awesome guild, your quests will become that much more achievable and enjoyable.

So, do you have a guild? Or are you looking for one?