Are Your Friends Helping Or Hindering Your Success?
Since I’ve been a little kid, I have had big aspirations. I have also always wanted to take my friends along with me on my journey to success although I never considered whether they were having a positive or negative effect on my goals until recently.
Who we choose to surround ourselves with can have an enormous impact on who we become and how we live our lives. I am not talking about just from a business sense either – the right people can have a tremendous impact on your life in every way.
Before I moved to Arizona, about a year ago, I was doing a lot of partying and hanging out with people who weren’t helping me reach my goals. Basically, I used to surround myself with people on the sole basis of if they were “fun” to hang out with. When I moved to Arizona, I had the chance to start fresh. I now only hang out with my best friends (and luckily, business partners) Matt and Josh.
A Lot Can Be Accomplished In A Short Time
Many people who know me probably would say I am a “hard worker.” The fact is I haven’t always been a hard worker. In actuality, only since I’ve started my blog have I started to see any bit of success at all. By surrounding myself with like-minded and similarly focused people, I have been able to make incredible progress, both personally and through our businesses.
When all of your influences are motivating and positive, you will be amazed how much energy you have to work hard to be successful. Surround yourself with the right people and a lot can be accomplished in a short amount of time.
Pain Before Pleasure?
Most people around my age (early-twenties) spend a lot of time socializing and not otherwise using their time wisely. Once I started hanging around the right people, I realized that this is not how I wanted to live my life. I would rather sacrifice “fun” now by working hard now and be able to have the “fun” later. This is effectively known as living “pain before pleasure,” a saying that my best friend Josh swears by.
I think he is right. I know from personal experience – it’s easy to get caught up in a highly social and non-productive lifestyle. I chose to let go of relationships that did not better me as a person. Since then, I have been able to accomplish goals I would have never originally considered possible.
Surround Yourself With Similarly Passionate and Motivated People
There are many benefits to blogging, but one of the best is being able to surround yourself with like-minded people. There is a lot of power in talking regularly to passionate and motivated people. I have met a lot of great people through my blog who I chat with quite a bit including:
All of those people have been a great source of support and encouragement. They are all people I would have not known otherwise if I hadn’t been blogging.
Align Yourself With The Right People
My best friend and business partner Josh also recently touched on this subject in a post entitled You Are Who You Hang Around. Josh says:
The concept of surrounding yourself with great people in a business sense mirrors the lesson my parents taught me about friends. You will hear this concept mentioned often from successful business persons and leaders.
Surrounding yourself with the right people should be key for everyone, but it becomes especially crucial in the business world. Networking and associating with established business people who have experience can provide far more education than sitting inside a classroom. I have learned an incredible amount about business proceedings from one of my new business partners, Steve. One of the ways you’ll know if someone is the right person is when you find yourself challenged, growing and learning more because of that relationship.
Conclusion
As I said earlier, there are an unlimited number of paths to success and also unlimited complexities in becoming successful. I think it is very important to be constantly aware of some of the bigger aspects including goat setting and surrounding yourself with the right people. The right people are important not just from a business sense, but also from a personal one.
Have you guys had particular friends who have changed the way you live? A special business partner who somehow made it all happen? Write back and tell me about it.
