At every OSA member meeting and conference I’m reminded of Jim Rohn saying:
“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”
Think about it for a minute. Who are the five people you spend the most time with? Chances are your income is the average of those five people, your ambition level is the average, your beliefs are the average of the group, and so on.
This is about understanding the law of averages but more importantly it is about understanding as a human being, how much your attitude and approach to life is influenced by who you hang around with. Your peers and your inner circle have an outsized influence on your results in life because they have so much impact on your thinking. Thoughts are truly things, and if you are constantly surrounded by what Zig Ziglar called “stinkin’ thinkin’” you’ll end up pretty stinky yourself.
How kids turn out often comes down to who their peers are, and who the biggest influences in their lives are. Doesn’t matter whether the influences are positive or negative, the effect is still the same, they’ll likely turn out to be the average of who they hang out with. That’s why things go wrong when someone ‘falls in with the wrong crowd.’ And it’s the same in business. Who you spend most time with will influence your thinking, your thinking controls your actions, and your actions create your results.
Choose your peers and inner circle wisely. If you’re determined to be successful and keep growing beyond your current level, you must seek out people who are smarter than you and hang out with them. That will bring your average up. Two of my closest mentors and coaches who I speak with every month, and have done for years, are way ahead of where I am. One has a business approximately three times the size of mine. The other sold one of his businesses last year for over $25 Million. I’m small potatoes compared to that. He, by the way hangs out with a couple of people whose businesses are in the hundreds of millions, and one in the billions. The effect is universal. It’s also the contrast principle at play too. If I’m spending time with someone achieving results 3X or 10X the results of mine, it makes my goals feel infinitely more achievable.
Leading discussions with the OSA mastermind members, especially at the live meetings, I can see and feel all these positive effects at play. Being in that environment for a couple of days massively increases the mental toughness of the individuals in the group. They go home with renewed enthusiasm, bolder goals, greater courage, brimming with determination, and clearer, smarter, more accurate thinking. Now, think about what results they’ll be able to achieve versus the average practice owner who spent the same few days stuck in their business maintaining the status quo.
Proactively seek out the best peers and inner circle for yourself. And don’t just spend a little time with them, find ways to spend a lot of time together and frequently.
To see and experience this for yourself run, (don’t walk, RUN), and book your place for OSA’s biggest meeting of the year. Time is short! Our theme is “Scale Up For Success” and you will not be disappointed. Join 100+ ambitious OSA members for a couple of days of inspiration and strategies that will get you and your practice moving on up. Register at www.osalive23.com or email the team if you have questions.