Jim Rohn once said “You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.” Meaning that your overall success in business and in life will be greatly impacted by only 5 people.
Think about that for just a minute and ask yourself who are the 5 people you spend most of your time with? Then ask yourself a much harder question. Are these the 5 people I should be spending the most time with?
How are these 5 people helping you move forward in your business and your life? Are they propelling you, challenging you, supporting you, lifting you up and cheering you on? Or are they weighing on you, criticizing you, crushing your spirit and your dreams?
I’m sure you can probably guess what may need to happen if your 5 are mostly comprised from the second category… ditch em!
Sadly, on our road to success there are going to be many nay-sayers. People that like to pick apart our plans and recite to us how we will never accomplish any of those things. Even worse some of these people may be very close to us, which makes it so much harder to ignore their criticism.
Often times they will say “I’m just being honest” as though they are doing you some sort of favor.
I will be the first person to say that providing someone will real, honest feedback can be an amazing gift, but only if that feedback is intended to help and support this person. Harsh criticism given with the intent to hurt you or keep you from moving forward should not be mistaken as “feedback.”
It’s easy to sit on the sidelines and tell someone why something can’t be done, but while that’s happening, there are those out there that actually are getting it done and there is no reason why that person shouldn’t be you.
Ask yourself this question- When someone is being a nay-sayer, telling you why you could never accomplish something amazing, Who do you think they are really referring to? You guessed it- Themselves.
You see if you actually start moving towards your goals and your dreams then you force those around you to look in the mirror and ask themselves what they are doing with their own life. As you are probably aware, this can be an extremely uncomfortable discussion for most people.
The sad truth is most do not have the emotional intelligence to deal with this situation in a positive manner so all they know is to lash out and attack the person that is causing them to feel so badly about themself. It’s a sad story that plays out over and over from school age all the way through adulthood.
On your road to success in business and in life, you will most certainly encounter those that say “you can’t do that.” In that moment you get to make a choice as to whether this person will be one of the 5 people you spend the most time with, or if they are just another passenger that you get to let off the train of your life.
The choice is yours, ALL ABOARD.
Thoughts for the week:
-Surround yourself with people who push you, who challenge you, who make you laugh, who make you better, who make you happy. – Unknown
-The greatest pleasure in life is doing what other people say you can’t. –Walter Bagehot
-When someone is going through a storm, your silent presence is more powerful than a million empty words. –Thema Davis
Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes… including you. –Anne Lamott
Surround yourself with people who get it. – Unknown
Looking forward to our next connection
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