How to Create An Environment for Accelerated Growth and Progress

"You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with." – Jim Rohn

Who are you spending your time with? Do they represent the person you want to be? Are your associations congruent with your life goals? Do your associations support and contribute to your growth in the areas of your life that are important to you?

The influence that one's associations may have on their attitude, way of being and thinking is powerful, yet very subtle. The people around you can either push you up or push you down. The person you are today is a direct reflection on the people you are around the most.

Successful people keep other supportive and positive-minded people who have the skills, abilities, knowledge, and lifestyle that they want to have. They are able to leverage the knowledge and strengths of everyone around them to move more quickly toward their goals.

In his book Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill references Henry Ford, describing how Ford brought a suit against a Chicago newspaper for defamation of character. The newspaper accused Ford of being ignorant because he had little formal education. Ford was placed on the witness stand and asked trivial questions about American history to prove his ignorance.

Ford, frustrated, eventually replied to say that he shouldn't have to clutter his mind with general knowledge when at the push of a button he can summon up men to answer any question in any educational discipline.

Although Ford had little formal education, he leveraged himself by his associations. He kept the company of educated men like Thomas Edison who each had specialized knowledge in a particular field.

In any goal your experience in that area is finite. By surrounding yourself with other positive, supportive, like-minded people whose skills and experiences complement and/or exceed your own, you can tap into an infinite collective experience of many people accelerate your learning curve.

This does not mean that you should abandon your current friends or family. Limit your interaction with some people and increase your interaction with others.

Continue you to ask yourself these questions. Who am I am around? How do they influence me? How do they affect my thinking? How do they affect my attitude? How do they contribute to me? Is that okay?