Surround Yourself with Successful People
I was just reading an interesting chapter out of Jack Canfield’s “The Success Principles”. It started out with this quote by Jim Rohn “You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.”
I know that a guy named Tim Ferriss took that quote to heart at the tender age of 12. He recognized that the kids he was hanging out with at school weren’t the ones he wanted to influence the rest of his life….so he asked his parents if they would pay for him to enroll in a private school. Four years at his new private school set him on the path of studying Japanese, Judo, Zen meditation. Eventually he went on to become an All-American wrestler, national kickboxing champion, world tango champion and CEO of several companies…all by the age of 23! I know this because Tim Ferris is one of my heros. He believes in a 4 hour work-week (I’ll bet you’ve heard of his book), and anyone that subscribes to that kind of philosophy is my kind of guy!
So who am I hanging out with? Who are my kids hanging with?
You become like the people you spend he most time with. That could be good news….it could be bad news. Here’s a little exercise for you to try:
Make a list of everyone you spend time with on a regular basis….family, friends, coworkers, neighbors, people from church, organizations/clubs you belong to.
Next, go back and put a minus sign – next to anyone you feel is negative and “toxic” …..or a plus sign + next to the names of those who are positive and nurturing.
See any patterns there??
Now, think how you’re life would be different if you spent more time with PLUS people and less time with MINUS people! (It’s true that sometimes it’s “impossible” if they’re family…but you could decrease the amount of time you spend with them, couldn’t you?)
Think about it. I’m sure you know people who only have to walk into the room and they totally suck the energy right out of you. (Psychic vampires!) Stop spending time with them!!
Until you can reach the point in your self-development where you no longer allow people to affect you with their negativity….you need to avoid toxic people. You’d be better off spending time alone than with someone that’s holding you back with their mediocre standards and attitudes.
If you want to be “fun” you hang out with “fun people”. If you want to be “smart” or “spiritual” you hang out with those kinds of people. Experiment with doing what they are doing…reading what they are reading…and thinking the way they are thinking. If the new ways of thinking and behaving work, adopt them. If not…well, keep looking and experimenting.
I was actually just thinking about this the other day. I was thinking, “hmmm I need to
hang out with more rich people so I can be rich!” Do you think that this works because
you discuss those things when you’re with them, or does just being around them
actually rub off on you???
Melissa, I think both things happen. When you surround yourself with the kind of people
you want to be like, you learn from them and become like their energy too. I also believe
that the people around us can be mirrors to us. Check it out…. what is it you see in them
that you like or dislike? How is this showing up for you in your life? The more
prosperous I become, the more I find I am around forward thinking, prosperous people.
It’s a very interesting thing to think about.
I love this! Success to me is having a loving family, good marriage, good
relationships …. etc…. I feel so blessed that each day I am in contact with these kind of
people… we live in an incredible place! One thing I have been trying to avoid is
negativism- people who are always negative about everything- nothing pleases them…
And it rubs off.
But where to find succesful people?
Hi Alice,
Thanks for stopping by. This past year, I have found it easiest to surround myself with successful people by attending 2-3 business networking meetings a month. Then…I do something for me that I used to consider “BRAVE”. I would email or call a couple of the people that I really connected with and see if they wanted to go to lunch to brainstorm possibilities of how to build our businesses. It has worked really well and not I not only have business associates, but I also have some new amazing friends!
Hi Ann,
I chanced upon your site here while looking for a quote for one of my blog article on principles of success. I was surprised you spoke about Jack Canfield’s book on success principles. You must be referring to principle 25 in his book, and the that quote of Jim Rohn is all too familiar and empowering.
The company you hang around with determines your outcome. In life, it is imperative that we seek out the pluses of our life and start interacting with them. For those who have problem finding enough of these real life pluses, try the online community. I have been richly blessed by some of the most helpful and wonderful people around. They really radiate positive vibes and energy even when they are thousands of miles away.
Thanks for the post and encouragement.
Cheers