Want to know one of the fastest ways to change your future? Change who you associate with.
Boom. Let that sink in for a minute.
When Erica and I wrote our relationship book, one of the biggest questions people ask us is: “How do I select the right partner? How do I choose the right mate?” And our answer is always the same: choose wisely.
But guys, this goes so much deeper than relationships. I believe the most important decision you’ll ever make is who you date, marry, and commit your life to. But it’s only slightly less important who you associate with in business, and who you hang out with as friends. Because here’s the reality.
I have so many friends, and I’ve done this myself in business, where red flags show up clearly. We see them. We dig into them. And then we discount them because there are some genuinely good things mixed in, and we end up settling because we’re all trying to juggle a hundred different things at once. And virtually 99% of the time, when there are red flags, it ends up coming back to bite us. I ask myself afterward every single time: “Why did I not heed the red flags that were right there in front of me?”
Thankfully, Erica and I have reached a point in our lives where when we see those red flags now, we say “no” and steer away immediately. I actually have a friend right now going through a major life ambush, and it all traces back to who he associated with. He got involved with people he didn’t really know, and it’s backfired on him badly.
Guys, if you want to level up in this life, it comes down to who you associate with. Warren Buffett talks about this often: “Pick colleagues whose behavior is better than yours, and you’ll naturally drift in that direction.” Or as he puts it… Choose colleagues and mentors wisely.
Look for people who are further along than you. See if you can spend time with them. See if you can learn from them. I’m constantly doing this myself. I recently hired someone specifically to help me move into the Fortune 500 world, because they’ve spent their career in that world , mentoring, coaching, working within it. It’s a world I haven’t fully operated in yet. I want to enter it, both for the growth of my business and for the growth of myself. These are deliberate choices I’m making.
How do you place yourself in the right rooms? How do you find the right groups, the right people, so you know you’re moving in the right direction? I think it’s critical — in business, in life, and yes, even in friendships.
If the people around you aren’t helping you level up, and you’re not helping them level up either, ask yourself honestly: are they holding you back? Or are you holding yourself back by staying around them?
That’s my message for today. Choose wisely.
Check out the FULL Monday Muster Mindset talk here: https://youtu.be/4CQ2u7jbPDk