Who You Know

Guest Contributor: Kelly Smith
Kelly's Posts - Kelly's Blog

"Men take on the nature and the habits and the power of thought of those with whom they associate in a spirit of sympathy and harmony." wrote Napoleon Hill in "Think and Grow Rich."

Napolean Hill was the first to discuss the mastermind concept in this book. In this particular excerpt he was talking about Henry Ford's mastermind group and how Ford's most significant strides in success and achievements came to fruition when he befriended successful people such as Thomas A. Edison, Harvey Firestone, John Burroughs and Luther Burbank.

As a mother of two even though my own children are only 4 and 5 years old, I am already conscious of the influence other children's behaviors on them as children often mimic the children around them. When they become adolescents it will be in the form of peer pressure and as adults it often isn't much different.

Your own parents may have said things to you about certain friends you may have "hung out" with as an adolescent and you thought at the time your parents were being judgemental but in fact your parents were consciously or subconsciously preparing you for the future as we have an innate nature of fitting in with those groups we feel we may "belong with."

In fact, it's possible to elevate your own surroundings which will in turn elevate yourself. Masterminding gives you the control of your own destiny.

A mentor of mine said when you start your business the first thing you should do is eliminate all the negative people around you for at least 90 days. This may sound harsh now, but try it yourself. For 90 days.

Surround yourself only by positive, motivated, successful people. Joining a mastermind can be a great way to do this.

If you have been surrounded by negativity and sarcasm up until now, you will find a huge difference in that successful and positive people want you to succeed as well.

The phrase, "Misery loves company" actually holds merit.

Today is day one. Are you ready to take the wheel and be in control of your success?