One of my greatest real estate mentors, Bill Cook, recently asked me to critique the bio he was putting on his new website. You see Bill is a very private guy. So when he asked me to help with writing something personal like that, you’d better believe I stopped what I was doing and gave it my full attention.
As I was reading through Bill’s bio, it really stood out how important the network of like-minded people they surrounded themselves with was to Bill and his wife, Kim.
Bill said in his bio that this strategy was one of the most important things they ever did because they had a strong network of friends to lean against during the hard times.
I agreed with him wholeheartedly. I would add, however, that having that network of like-minded people is hugely important during the good times, too. My reasoning is that those friends will inspire and challenge you to go forward faster.
A common idea holds that if you take the average income of the five people closest to you, that’s what your income will be. This rule holds true for other areas of your life as well – think about your fitness level, your happiness level and your spiritual level.
Birds of a feather flock together and you’ll be whoever you surround yourself with. If there are areas in your life that you aren’t happy with, take a look and see if you need to adjust who you’re spending your time with.
This was a hard lesson for me to implement. When we got started, my best friends and I all had the same status. We lived paycheck to paycheck. Even so, we would do frivolous things like pool our money together so we could afford to watch the Pay-per-view UFC fights.
We used to bowl a lot too. As a matter of fact, Ashley and I bowled in a few different leagues. I don’t want to brag, but we got really good. One time I bowled a 287, and we averaged close to 200 regularly.
But then I got introduced to a book called “The Slight Edge” by Jeff Olsen. One of the topics in the book is about averaging your five closest friends. He got my attention when he mentioned bowling saying, “If you and your friends have a high bowling average, that’s great. Congratulations, you’re known for being an awesome bowler. But if success is something you want to be known for, you may want to take a look at the five people you spend the most time with.”
That one hit right between the eyes. Ashley and I were uncomfortable financially, but we craved a better life. So we made a hard decision and stopped spending so much time with some of our closest friends. We didn’t make this decision because we stopped caring about our friends, but rather because we were on a different path mentally. We had to seek out others going in that same direction so we didn’t get pulled back the other way.
This was by far one of the hardest choices we ever made, but it was one that made all the difference in the world.
Proverbs 13:20 says, “He who walks with the wise, shall be wise, But the companion of fools suffers evil.”
Now I’m not saying my friends were fools. They weren’t. What I am saying is that living paycheck to paycheck felt like suffering evil.
Once I started walking with wise people like Bill and Kim Cook, Houston Long, Dorsie Boddiford and Mike Tarpey, to name five that I hold dear, mine and Ashley’s world changed forever and our averages went through the roof.
So if success is something you crave, but you’re not getting there, let me ask you, “Who do you surround yourself with?”
Joe and Ashley English buy houses and mobile homes in Northwest Georgia. For more information or to ask a question, go to www.cashflowwithjoe.com or call Joe at 678-986-6813.