The world has a tremendous amount of initiatives in place to give people a sense of belonging.

There are support groups, religious groups, interest groups… if there’s anything you might need or feel passionate about, there’s probably a group out there. This is a great thing for those who are seeking.

However, there are those who could benefit from such a group and are not seeking. Many times, they are not even aware that such a group could benefit them. Other times, they are just waiting for someone to reach out and on rare occasions, they may not even know about it.

Where we can falter is when we take those outliers who could benefit from a group and drag them into one. Unless it’s an intervention, forcing someone into it will not produce the results needed.

It’d be almost worse to create the conditions around which someone would want to join because then the invitation is inauthentic. The person would feel forced to join and in turn, find any reason to back out when possible.

If it feels forced, it probably is and the approach should change.