Who You Surround Yourself With Matters

I give you permission to cut negative people out of your life or place them in a “time out”.

You can love them from afar.  

You can pray for them and send them energy and good vibes, but you do NOT have to spend any of your time with them.

You need to jealously guard your mind, heart, and soul.

Especially as you grow your business.

I give you permission to place them on the sidelines of your life.

I truly believe who you surround yourself with determines your level of success personally and professionally.

As I spend a week with a group of 9 businesses women who are growing their own businesses, who can’t wait to generously share their knowledge to help me move my business forward, and who want to give advice, recommendations, and support to each other, and are TRULY invested in each others success in a passionate way, I realize I need to seek out more of these types of relationships outside of my regular friends and family.

Not that my friends and family aren’t AMAZING, but there is something about other people who are also growing their own businesses that truly “get” where you are coming from.  

It’s like speaking a foreign language that only this select group, called “online entrepreneurs” understands. 

What this week has helped me determine is that I need to be intentional and more deliberate about who I choose to listen to, surround myself with, or spend time with.

Who is in your trusted circle for your business?

Are you actively seeking out trusted peers who are your biggest cheerleaders?

You need to surround yourself with people/peers…

• Who understands what it means to be in business for yourself, what we go through to provide the very best introduction-worthy experience to our clients, and all the highs and lows that go with our journey.
• Who are our biggest cheerleaders.
• Who “gets it” without us having to give a huge backstory.
• When you say, “because clients”, they commiserate or celebrate with you (depending on the situation!) ha!
• Who can listen and “be there” when we need to vent and then tell us to put our big girl pants / or big boy shorts back on and get back in the game.
• Who are further than us in their own journey and can give wise counsel
• Who we can share our joy and “wins” with who truly gets how much work really went into that shining moment.
• Who will remind us of our superpower and how we impact others.
• Who will hold us accountable, not in a carrot & stick way, but in a loving, nurturing, move us forward kind of manner.
• Who won’t blow sunshine up our skirts and be truth tellers, even when we don’t want to hear it.
• Who are safe so we can be vulnerable with our struggles and then, once said out loud, encourage our journey to growth.
• Who are in our same industry and understand that there is more than enough business to go around and that we each approach a solution to a common problem in a unique way with our own superpowers and we refer to one another.
• Who build each other up in public and in private.
• Who will ask you follow-up questions to your comment causing you to pause and reflect and give a thoughtful answer (even when the question is painful!)
• Who WANTS to see us succeed and can challenge us in the most loving and genuine way to draw the very best out of us.
  

We don’t need to surround ourselves with…

• Those who throw your goals and dreams back in your face when you haven’t reached them yet
• Those in the same industry trashing your name and putting you down to place themselves above you.
• Energy suckers
• Negative Nellies
• Naysayers
• Those that grieve your soul
• Passive Aggressive “supporters” who are jealous of your success
• Those who tear others down in your presence
• Play victim in their own business journey
• Those that aren’t taking the actions to grow, and are choosing to stay stuck
• Blame others and don’t look internally at the part they play in their own business
  
  

Be intentional and more deliberate about who you choose to listen to, surround yourself with, or spend time with.

I give you permission to choose your “family”...your business family.  

Maybe, just maybe, you consider me part of your business family.