If there are people you know who act on and talk about and assume certain things about you that are not in line with who you want to be … and what you want to accomplish – whatever they are – then you might be feeling like you are walking through life in quicksand. You are fighting to hold your head high but feeling pulled down.

Now imagine what it would be like if you turned it around and began hanging out with people who already have what you want and have the success traits that you aspire to duplicate?

Imagine….

Do you feel that load being lifted? Do feel that feeling of self – empowerment?

I have found that surrounding myself with giving, caring, supportive, successful, positive, happy and motivated people has been the number one reason for the contentment and peace and yes…success… in my life.  The fact is some people make you feel better, lift you up, inform and entertain, while others seem to be on a mission to depress, annoy, and enrage. Sorting the edifying from the toxic is a habit to get into early and often!

Here are a few tips to Build a Positive Circle of Friends and Associates:

• Read and follow people who inspire or motivate you
• Surround yourself with positive influences rather than people who bring you down
• Do not get drawn into protracted debates or arguments
• Block people who routinely aggravate you
• Avoid scenarios where you get drawn into negativity
• Seek out people who are succeeding at what you want to do and observe how they behave and think
• Find the learning opportunity in every interaction

“Your choice of people to associate with, both personally and business-wise, is one of the most important choices you make. If you associate with turkeys, you will never fly with the eagles.”
Brian Tracy

What You Can Do?
Ask yourself; are there any turkeys in your life?  Ready- Aim – Set them free…..

There are 3 things you can begin doing immediately to help in this area:

1. Take a look at your current relationships and determine whether they are supportive and enriching or toxic and destructive. A clue here is to examine how you feel about yourself when around various people.

2. If you identified any relationships which are not mutually supportive and do not empower you, or that drain your energy and make you feel bad about yourself, take steps to distance yourself from the people involved – FAST! This is a stumbling block for many people – the crossing of the bridge between what they know, and what they say they want. It’s not easy to leave familiar things behind, especially people, and this is a real sticking point. It may not be comfortable at first, but neither is hanging out with “turkeys”.

3. Make a plan to change yourself. Become the giving, positive, motivated, success focused person you want others to be and concentrate on developing only relationships which are enriching, supportive and empowering of this side of you!

4. Join groups, clubs, classes etc where the people who have your interests are most likely to be. Be pro-active in sending out invites to new people to get to know them.

5. Take a super successful person to lunch once a month. Tell them you are looking to get to know eagles and you see them as someone you would like to get to know. At lunch, ask that person what they think are the key(s) to their success.  Get to know them. And most importantly, ask if there is anything you can do to support their goals.

6. Be a Giver of acceptance, affirmative words, encouragement and avoid dragging others down with negative words and your own bad attitude.  You will have more people wanting to be in your circle than you have enough hours in the day for.

“The only way to have a friend is to be one.”
– Source Unknown

The bottom line is this – if there are people in your life that drain your energy, make you feel badly about yourself or hold you back, then you must take appropriate action… and quickly!  I’m not saying the transition will be easy for you. However, in the big picture this change will impact your life more dramatically than any other.

Another one of my favorite inspirational quotes is from Charles DuBois, who said:

“The important thing is this: To be able to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.”

By Tamera Aragon

Fly with the eagles and be free!

Zig Ziglar says, “You can’t fly with the eagles if you continue to scratch with the turkeys.”

I have to agree…you see he goes on to describe the term “eagle” referring to high achievers – those positive, motivated, successful people who make you feel honored and appreciated when you are in their presence.

“Turkeys” are those that are negative, downers who probably don’t align with who you are inside… or even who you want to become.

“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”
Mahatma Gandhi

When I decided to finally sort out my life, I had to seriously limit contact with some of my best friends because their values and morals did not match mine. Nor did their attitudes reflect the kind I wanted duplicate. So I had to begin by distancing myself a bit from those “turkeys”.

Are you afraid that if you begin changing your habits and thoughts, thus your circumstances, your current friends may no longer accept you?

What if they judge you and don’t understand your motivations, or say those dreaded words ‘you’ve changed’?

Well, if they do say those words, “you’ve changed”,say “thank you”! ‘You’ve changed’ are probably the most beautiful words in the Universe when it comes to success and wealth, and life change in general.

“When you blame others, you give up your power to change.”
Dr. Robert Anthony

Most people fear change. However, you don’t have to be “most people”. Try looking at the noticeable changes as a compliment acknowledging that not everyone around you is going to accept the ‘new you’.  Your acceptance of this truth will free you to act authentically as the person you aspire to be.

And when you are feeling like your own strength can’t carry you – remember there is a much strong source of strength – all you have to do is ask.

…but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
The Bible – Isaiah 40:31

Watch for part 2 next week…. the exact steps to fly like an eagle and set those turkeys free.

Originally posted 2010-06-15 08:29:53. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

“The one thing you can’t take away from me is the way I choose to respond to what you do to me. The last of one’s freedoms is to choose ones attitude in any given circumstance.”

~Viktor Frankl

What if it was possible to be happy even when things aren’t going your way? What if there was a simple way to be happy, despite your environment, while staring adversity straight in the eyes?

Would you like to get rid of the noise in your head telling you every reason why you shouldn’t make an offer on a property or you cannot really make money at buying and selling houses or some other crazy negative thing.  That’s right – no more hurtful critical thoughts! Can you imagine?

I know it sounds like a great idea, but doesn’t seem to be very realistic at first glance. The good news is, it doesn’t have to be realistic, it just has to work, and it will, if you stick with a few basic principles. The key here is in the simplicity, and in keeping yourself accountable for sticking with the following principles.

My experience

This is a system I’ve been using for quite some time, and can testify to its merit. I decided that I was tired of being unhappy, and letting my own made up fears or even the real environment and the people around me control how I felt.

Be Selective In What You Think About

The wonderful thing about thoughts is that you genuinely own yours. No one else has power over what you think about. With this power, you are faced with a big choice that can impact your entire existence.

• Positive Thoughts. You can choose to think about goals, ambitions, people you love, beautiful scenery, and things you enjoy. This affects your physiology by making you stress free and healthier.
• Negative Thoughts. You can choose to think about death, disappointment, destruction and misery. It’s so stressful to think about how unfair life is, which causes your immune system to take a dip.

Ask Yourself The Important Question

Yes, a single question is powerful enough to change your thoughts. Just ask yourself: How do I want this to affect me?

When you ask yourself about what you want, you are able to take control. If being happy in the face of adversity is what you want, than you choose to let yourself be affected positively. You take negative situations, and treat them as a learning experience.

Instead of taking minor discomforts and turning them into major frustrations, let them affect you in a positive way. For example, you can turn a 48-hour commute into a learning experience.

Switch Channels

Treat your life as a television set, and when your thoughts project channels of unhappiness, hit the next button on your mental remote. Switch to something pleasant and stick to the happy networks.

Remember, you control whether your thoughts are positive or negative and with this choice you own your happiness – which  in affect makes you healthy, wealthy and wise.

Experts added by Alex Shalman

Originally posted 2009-12-17 01:00:35. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Jim Rohn, one the most respected mentors not only to me but to millions of others left us December 5, 2009 for a better place. I can’t tell you how sad that makes me. I had a lifelong dream to meet him. I was part of an event last year in Texas where I was going to have this dream of meeting Mr Rohn come true. However, to my great disappointment, he was too ill to make it that event at that time. Now I will have to wait til we are both meet in Heaven.

One of the messages he instilled in my being is this… “Life is like the seasons – You cannot change the seasons – but you can change yourself.”  Jim Rohn learned this from his mentor, another amazing man, J. Earl Shoaff.  You can read more about J. Earl Shoaff by following this link: www.earl.com

In additon to Jim Rohn, several well known well respected individuals learned and lived Earl’s philosophies for success – people like Zig Ziglar, Mary Kay Ash, Bill Bailey, etc. From what he learned and put to work in his own life many years ago, Mr Rohn made famous  meaning of “personal development”.

He taught me that in order to climb the ladder of success it is more important to work harder on myself than my job. He stated, “If you work hard on your job you can make a living, but if you work hard on yourself you can make a fortune.”

Since at the time he was learning these things, he was supporting his family and could not quit his job.  Jim Rohn asked his mentor the question, “How can I make a living and a fortune?”  He followed his mentors advice when he continued to pay bills and make a living for himself at a full time job making $50.00 a week… and began working on his fortune as he worked on himself part time.

Jim teaches us all our income is primarily determined by your philosophy… not to the economy.

When Jim first shared this,  I got excited because I could not change the economy but I knew I could change myself. Success is something you attract by becoming an attractive person.

Success is not something you pursue, it’s something you attract.  So it seems it would be best to become an attractive person.

• So what makes a person attractive?
• How can becoming attractive increase your profits in real estate?

Share your thoughts on this by hitting the “leave your comment” link above.

To see 111 other resources Jim Rohn has impacted the world with, Click Here

Jim fondly closed his programs with the following sentiments: “I go with you in all the experience that we’ve had. But I promise you this as we leave here: I will not leave you behind. I’ll take you with me in my thoughts and in my heart.”

I feel the same way about Jim. His spirit lives on through the many lives whom he has inspired. His legacy will forever live on.