My sister came to visit last night and I thought it was a good occasion to try a new restaurant in town.

We drove, parked, walked. And as we approached the restaurant, we noticed two things: a) it was EMPTY, and b) the only person in sight was a middle-aged man, dragging patio furniture inside.

Me: “Are you open?”
Him: “I’m closing. This is the last day. This is the last day.”

I’ve never seen anyone look so dejected. He looked at us like hope had come too little too late. I guess I should have tried the new restaurant in town sooner?

This was truly the saddest restaurant experience I’ve ever been a part of. I woke up the next day thinking about him and his first day without his business.

Man, that’s the ugly side of chasing your dreams that doesn’t get talked about enough.

Clearly, I’m in no place to judge the guy, or say what was or wasn’t happening in the moment — but the optics of that snapshot stuck with me.

One guy.
Shutting down shop.
By himself.
At 6:30 on a Wednesday.

So here’s my thought: Our dreams need teams.

Success is a team sport. We can’t do this alone. We need advocates, champions, and folks who will do the heavy lifting necessary when the going gets tough. Friends, mentors who will give us a kick before we have to turn the key for good. And still be by our side when we do.

This is the person I seek to be to those within my reach. And I hope to stack my team with those folks too.

Who’s on your team? Who are you willing to be there for — when the dreams come true, and when they don’t?

Here’s my advice:

THIS WEEK: Find one way to serve one person on their way toward their dream.

Here are a handful of ideas to get you going.

• Be a patron
  • Buy an actual CD
  • Purchase a Painting from a local artist, rather than the big box store
  • Get the t-shirt
  • Go to that show/opening/exhibition
• Contribute!
  • Be a cheerleader for their product on your social sites
  • Post about their business on Nextdoor.com (Side note: I did this for a house cleaning start-up once and got them 5 recurring customers — it took me 5 minutes!)
  • Contribute to the Go Fund Me campaign
  • Be generous with your time on someone else’s project
• Make a connection
  • Introduce someone who’s just starting out to that successful entrepreneur you know.
  • Invite the head of that non-profit to your next party to introduce them to your social circle.
  • Reach out and ask how you can help.

When you help someone out, I’d love to hear about it. Leave me a comment below or write to me at chase[at]chaseandre.com