What Is Your Average?
You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with” ~ Jim Rohn
This statement either scares you or makes you really excited. When I heard this quote 2 years ago, it scared me. I was hanging out with people who weren’t doing anything with their lives, they weren’t successful and they didn’t want to make a difference in the world. They were more concerned with the latest video game than trying to make life better for themselves.
That was when I decided to be highly intentional with who I spend my time with. I realized that I needed to surround myself with people who were better at business, relationships, speaking and coaching if I wanted to improve myself. It was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. I had to say goodbye to good friends, but in return my relationships, by business and my family life improved dramatically.
Here are the 3 questions that I use to determine who I spend my time with:
- Do they challenge you?
- Are the people you surround yourself with better than you? Do they push you to become a better a better friend, salesman even a better partner? We all need people who are willing to challenge our thoughts and our actions. If people only tell us what we want to hear, we will only hear our voice coming from other people.
- Are they lifters or pullers?
- There are two types of people. The lifters and pullers. Lifters encourage you when you need them. The are positive, they are looking out for you. They are upbeat and they energetic. On the other side of the coin, pullers are constantly looking for negatives in life, your's and theirs. They stir the pot to create bad conflict and they complain over the smallest things. They are the negative energy in your life. Why would you want to surround yourself with negative people?Choose lifters in your life, you will never regret having a positive individual around you.
- Are they stagnant or growing?
- Out of all the questions this was the hardest for me, because most people that I meet are stagnant and they want nothing to do with change or growing. I believe this is because most people are looking for comfortability in life. The issue is that no one grows then they are comfortable. Surround yourself with people who are innovative, constantly trying new things, constantly reading, developing themselves and growing. Creativity breeds creativity!
There are many other factors when deciding who to surrounding yourself with, but these are a few of the foundational questions I use.
What is your average? Does it scare you? Does it push you? Does it inspire you? Are you surrounded by the right right people? Be intentional with who you spend your time with, challenge yourself and discover how far you can go when you surround yourself with the right people.
Inspired to design and develop communities integrating developing technology and solutions to increase design life, reduce construction and long term maintenance costs and create self sustainable communities.
9 年#truth Very well articulated Nathan Cook! "Show me your friends and I'll sow you your future." Glad to call you a friend!
Helping leaders 2x their productivity, free up their time, and develop their teams
9 年Great post. Totally agree with how scary it is/was for me too! Still scary to continue to evaluate and improve.
Diplomacy at The Mighty Guild
9 年Great post Nate, thank you for sharing such a turning point in your journey
Custom Wellness Solutions for Optimal Health
9 年Great article. If I could put a thumbs up on this one I would. challenge yourself. Your next customer or business partner is right around the corner! You might be putting in 211 degrees of effort but if you keep going instead of giving up that extra degree of effort makes steam which powers mighty steam engines and once you get the engine moving then you have momentum! Get out of your comfort zone. When you are uncomfortable - that's when you're growing!