A Personal Growth Lesson From A Little Bird

Without question, there are many factors that have helped to shape the kind of person you are today. Which one would you say has had the greatest influence on you personally?
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The influence of those we associate with has a major effect on the person we become. Oddly, we may not even recognize how powerful this influence is because it generally develops over an extended period of time.
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Peer pressure can be a subtle yet extremely powerful force in our lives. If you’re around people who burn through every dime they make, chances are very strong that you’ll develop that same pattern.
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If you spend most of your time around people who don’t like to read, chances are you won’t read much either.
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If we continually associate with people who don’t share the same goals and aspirations as we do, their influence can completely undermine our progress. If we really want our lives to turn out the way we’ve planned, we need to pay special attention to the company we keep.
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By choosing to spend time with like-minded people we reinforce and strengthen our own focus and resolve. If you want to become better at anything, spend time in the company of those who are already good at it and you will improve.
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I realize that the lesson here seems obvious. The reason I mention it is because I frequently work with people who say they can’t make any progress on their goals, and guess what! Their efforts are being undermined by the influence of the people around them.
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Here’s one that comes up quite often. “No matter how much I exercise and try to watch my diet I can’t lose any weight.” My first question, “are your friends overweight?”  Next question, “do they share your passion for food?” 
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After we pursue this line of reasoning for a while it usually comes down to, “but they’re my friends.”
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Now it’s not my place to choose anyone’s friends and that’s not the point here. The point is this, the people you associate with influence you and you owe it to yourself to consider what sort of influence they are exerting.
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You need to keep checking whether your associations are moving you in a positive direction or a negative one. Are they supporting your efforts to reach your goals or preventing your from taking affirmative action?
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Perhaps you’ve heard the story of the little bird. He had his wing over his eye and he was crying. The owl said to the bird, “You are crying.” “Yes,” said the little bird, and he pulled his wing away from his eye. “Oh, I see,” said the owl. “You’re crying because the big bird pecked out your eye.” And the little bird said, “No, I’m not crying because the big bird pecked out my eye. I’m crying because I let him.”
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It’s easy to let outside influences shape our lives, and to let our associates determine our direction. It can be extremely difficult to break off from the crowd to pursue your dreams.
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Try this, take a look at the people you spend your time with and ask yourself, “do I want to turn out like them?” If the answer is yes, that’s great. But if the answer is no, you need to seriously consider making a different choice so you don’t end up like that little bird.

Tagged as: Association, friends, Goals, personal growth