The people closest to you in your personal and professional lives will have a tremendous influence on who you become. As a friend of mine told me,
“I put people in my life who don’t let anything stop them.”They have the same success mindset she does, and at her young age she has accomplished more than most people do in a lifetime. How does she do this?
Think of yourself as a bus driver and the seats behind you are occupied by those closest to you. What are you hearing from them? How do they act from day to day? How much of a priority are you to them? What actions are they doing you are proud of? What positive influence do you feel in their presence?
People you want on your bus
You are the average of the people you associate with. If you are surrounded by whiners and those who believe life is out to get them, then you become just like those people. If you spend time around people who are glad to see Mondays, are upbeat about life, and are eager to work hard to succeed, then you become more like them as well.
Make a list of 20 people currently on your bus. Family, friends, and the people you are closest to in your work environment. These are the people influencing your thinking, habits and drive to achieve. Are these the right people that will help you reach your dreams?
Off-loading your bus
Once you review who is on your bus you realize there are people there who really don’t have any business riding with you. What do you do about that? As you grow as a person you will be moving at a different pace than those around you who are not growing as fast. Eventually, you can outgrow some relationships.
As you reconnect with old high school friends through social media you will see how differently people have grown or changed over the years. Your current passengers on your bus are the same way. Are they growing with you?
Offloading passengers is tough to do. It depends on how badly you want to succeed. Making a choice to move beyond current friendships and family relationships can be a challenging and difficult process but one that is critical to your development and success. If their influence is negative, if you are a low priority, if they just don’t see the abundance of life’s opportunities, then you have no option but to let them off the bus. Either with a swiftness of a good-bye, or allowing things to gradually drift away; however, you choose, you need to make room for the right people to impact your life in a positive way.
Obviously, if you are only looking for people to give to you without you offering anything in return, your bus will be empty of the people you want to attract.
Getting the right passengers on your bus
Where you spend your leisure time, where you network, and the activities you get involved with will expose you to the average of the groups you are in. Not finding the right people? Then it’s time to find new places to connect with the right people.
Consider the people you want to be involved with then ask yourself the following questions: Where do I meet these people? How can I connect with these people? What is it about me that attracted the wrong people on the bus to begin with and what do I need to change in order to attract the right people on the bus? The answers to these questions could be the greatest decisions you make in creating greater success for yourself.
Posts
