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It’s Not Just Who You Know … It’s Who You Associate With!
I am always amazed when I see a couple who has been married for several years and they have adopted each others mannerisms and facial expressions. Sometimes it seems as though they underwent some crazy DNA experiment and were morphing into each other.
It’s not that difficult to understand how it happens when you think about it. We all share little sayings, inside jokes, private stories, and even similar philosophies on life. After all, your spouse is the person you spend the most time with. Well … in most cases. 🙂
These same traits, philosophies, and mannersims are transfered into our children as they are being brought up and maturing into adults. Although our children share our DNA and are predisposed to looking like us, there are many other characteristics they pick up from associating with us throughout their formative years. Some good …. Some bad.
Think about it for a second …
Why do you speak the language you speak?
Why do you have the accent you have?
Why do you have the outlook on life you have?
It’s most likely because of the people who raised you, the area of the universe in which you were raised, and the circumstances you lived through and experienced.
I am a pretty huge sports nut and have always found it quite interesting how so many siblings, and offspring of professional athletes end up becoming professional athletes as well. Sometimes they become professionals in opposite sports as their relatives. I understand some of this is genetic and that they share some of the same DNA, but I’m not willing to just dismiss it there.
These siblings and offspring have the ability to gain the same mindset and are exposed to those achievement oriented philosophies through association with these people. They don’t find themselves in a situation where they are doubting whether they could ever accomplish it because they know someone very close to them who has. These people are also exposed to the exact formula it takes to achieve the same accomplishments.
Obviously the most important ingredient is FOLLOWING THE FORMULA, but knowing the process is a huge help.
The law of association doesn’t just stop at family. This universal law extends to ALL the people we associate with. About 20 years ago I heard the saying, “Your income will be equal to the average of your five closest friends.” I’ve heard this saying repeatedly over the years and every single time I “did the math” it proved to be right on. At times in my life that was very frustrating and I didn’t want it to be true.
It makes perfect sense though. Think about it …
Look at the five closest people in your life and what you talk about when you get together.
Do you spend your time talking about the future and what your goals are? Do you discuss strategies to improve the value you bring to the marketplace? Do you spend time doing physical activities and enjoying this beautiful world we are so lucky to be a part of?
Or
Do you spend time talking about how bad you have it and how you just don’t feel good? Do you constantly discuss how the economy is horrible and how the way everything is going, we’ll all be broke soon? Do you spend most of your time together sitting in the local drinking establishments getting hammered and complaining about politics or sitting in your mom’s basement toking on your favorite bong?
Both of these scenarios are opposite ends of the spectrum and most of us are closer to either one or the other. You can see that the questions from either scenario will result in us taking either positive or negative actions depending on the thoughts and philosophies we are exposed to.
If we are associating with positive, achievement oriented people … We’ll take positive action and focus our attention on the belief that we are meant to achieve.
Conversely, if we are associating with negative people who believe the world is out to get them … We’ll do nothing but moan and complain about how bad we have it and how everyone is out to get us.
If you take the time to do an “audit” and find that the majority of the people you associate with are on the wrong side of the spectrum … It’s time to get some new friends!
You may think this sounds harsh but if you believe you are the one person who the law of association isn’t going to affect, YOU ARE NUTS!
That’s like believing the law of gravity doesn’t apply to you. If you want to achieve more, have more, and enjoy life more … You need to associate with the right people.
When we made the decision to join forces with Hanon McKendry we increased the potential of our company incredibly. Upon joining forces we now have the ability to associate daily with people like Bob Blanchard, Bill McKendry and an amazing, award winning staff.
This association has increased our confidence, our belief in what we can do, and has added a depth to our knowledge that could only have been added by developing such a close association with such great people.
If you want to become great … you need to make sure you are associating with great people. It can be painful disassociating yourself from people you’ve been hanging out with for your entire life, but it will be much more painful to continue to associate with negative people, and the results you’ll receive from NOT taking the step to change will continue to be just as painful.
