Do You Know Who Belongs In Your Future?

What you do in life is really a function of who you hang out with. So instead of imagining your future as an abstract set of events and numbers, try thinking of it in terms of relationships: What great things would be possible if everyone you dealt with were positive, motivated, and energizing to be around?

Much of our confidence and happiness comes from who we have around us. Conversely, if you’re in relationships with people whose worldviews are filled with thoughts of scarcity, fear, failure, and frustration, they’ll be unhappy about your plans for a bigger future and try to hold you in place. They may have good intentions, attempting to save you from the disappointment of inevitable failure (since they see failure as a tragedy rather than a way to learn and grow), but they’ll limit the amount of freedom you can enjoy.

That’s why when I’m talking to entrepreneurs about their future plans, I ask, “Who do you have in your life?” You custom-build your future one relationship at a time, so exercise your freedom to attract and develop only the most creative, supportive, profitable, and satisfying relationships with people who empower your biggest aspirations. This enables you to take bigger risks, knowing you’re backed up by a network of committed, talented, future-focused contributors.

I live in a dream world. Every day, I’m surrounded by thousands of high achievers who are the most creative, responsible people you could meet — from our team members to our clients. Each year, it takes less and less effort to be successful because of the buoyant quality of these relationships.

Because of the way we’ve designed our company, I simply don’t meet negative people anymore. I’m through with fighting, because I’ve already learned everything I can from that.

This can be your experience too — if it isn’t already — because, as an entrepreneur, you always have the freedom to choose who you have in your life; it’s not forced upon you. The process of choosing begins with determining what your criteria are. Here are mine:

• Alert
• Curious
• Responsive
• Resourceful

That’s what I expect from the people around me. By articulating this, I’ve let my team members (and clients too) know exactly how to help me feel supported and motivated and how to do the best work with me.

What are your criteria for deciding who belongs in your future? Even though I’ve been talking in terms of the future, that future is created by the decisions you make today — so, work every day to increase your overall freedom of relationship.