The Nwando: Are You the Most Successful Person in Your Circle?

I heard a story recently about a man that found an eagle’s egg. He picked it up and put it in his chicken nest. The eagle hatched with the chicks and grew up around them. Baby Eagle did the chicks did, ate what they ate, clucked around poking in the dirt for worms, flying a few feet just like chickens do. One day he glanced up and saw an eagle gliding and soaring majestically and he said in admiration ‘what’s that?’ Another chicken replied saying ‘that’s an eagle, he’s the king of all the birds and the master of the sky, but we belong to the ground because we are just chickens. Don’t worry about him, you will never be like him’ So the eagle lived and died as a chicken because: 1. He was surrounded by chickens his entire life and 2. He never thought he could be more.

It’s a simple story, but it rings so true. According Jim Rohn, “You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with”. Surround yourself with people that challenge you to do better and to be better. If you surround yourself with successful people, they don’t even have to tell you to work hard. You strive to do better simply because they inspire you and this creates an atmosphere of healthy competition that’s good for you.

The law of averages states the theory that the result of any given situation will be the average of all outcomes. That is to say that something is sure to happen at some point, because of the amount of exposure to that thing happening. For example, if I keep trying at something and I keep failing, the probability of me succeeding at some point will be high. In the same way, if I surround myself with successful hardworking people, it’s only a matter of time before I start picking up their habits and doing the things they do. The chances of me getting successful at some point, if I keep at it, will be high.

Understand that this can either be positive or negative. If I don’t smoke, but my closest friends do and I always hang out with smokers, it’s a matter of time before I become a social smoker. The longer you see something and stay around it, the more ‘normal’ it feels and becomes.

Therefore it’s very important to note what you constantly expose yourself to. What kind of people do you hang out with? What do you fill your time with? What do you talk about? What books do you read? What kind of places do you go to? The little things you do become habit, and your habit becomes your lifestyle. To be great, you must surround yourself with people that are already great. If you’re the smartest or the most successful person in your group, then it might be time to expand your circle of friends.

B.J Neblett says it best “We are the sum total of our experiences. Those experiences – be they positive or negative – make us the person we are, at any given point in our lives. And, like a flowing river, those same experiences, and those yet to come, continue to influence and reshape the person we are, and the person we become.”

In all of this, keep in mind that the power of thought is very key. The thoughts that you allow pass through your mind are responsible for your reality. Your thoughts influence your behaviour and they control your actions, reactions and inactions. Anyone you surround yourself with can influence you; you are your own greatest influence. Remain humble, but never allow anyone think more of you than you think of yourself.

Who are you now and who are you trying to become? What are you doing to take you a step closer to that person? What habits/people are preventing you from becoming that person? Figure that out and get to work on building your dream life. You have the power to create the life you envision, never let anyone tell you otherwise.

Love x Light,

N.

Photo Credit: Dreamstime | © Kadettmann