People who achieve at their peak make conscious decisions about their lives. They know what they want and how to achieve
it. This includes consciously choosing with whom they associ-ate, both personally and in business. They focus on building authentic relationships, ones that are right for each person in the relationship. In order to live and connect with others authentically, they choose to build relationships with people who are also committed to this level of relating.
This includes their business associates, trusted advisors, and investment professionals who help them with financial and retirement decisions. Consider how many people work hard only to lose their money because someone took advantage of them. Don’t let this happen to you.
The first step in avoiding this type of experience is to consciously choose those to whom you trust with financial matters. This includes not only doing background checks, but also doing an internal check to determine if your intuitive sense is they are acting in your best interest—or only theirs.
The people you allow into your life will affect your wealth, success, and overall happiness. Further, your level of income and overall net worth will gravitate toward the average of the five people with whom you most closely associate.
Consciously choose the people in your business and life!
What does this suggest? It implies that if you want to make a significant leap forward financially, then some of your closest relationships, including business coaches and mentors, should be significantly ahead of your current financial level. It also means you need relationships with other entrepreneurs who are at similar stages in their businesses and are also committed to becoming Conscious Millionaires.
This is true because each of you will be influenced by one another’s values, priorities, goals, habits, and perhaps most
of all, beliefs and mindsets. Together, you will create a group consciousness.
Whether that group consciousness helps or hinders your ability to achieve greater financial success will depend upon the people with whom you choose to associate. Positive people elevate you while negative people tend to depress you.
Furthermore, it isn’t just the people with whom you do business that matter in your life. It’s also important to consider carefully who you choose for friends, and the type of person you choose for romance or partnership. Their personal qualities and outlook on life will significantly influence you. They will either support or hinder you in achieving the success you desire.
Whether professional or personal, you will usually enjoy your best relationships with people who have similar values, goals, and standards.
You have two choices for how to build your relationships:
1. You could just randomly move through life with no real criteria for how you choose the people with whom you spend time; or
2. You consciously choose criteria for each type of relationship you want, then utilize the criteria to choose who to invite into your life.
The best way to develop criteria is to begin with the reason you want to build the relationship. What do you hope to gain through knowing a person? What do you want to accomplish together? In short, why do you want this person in your life?
This could range from making money together to having fun to romance and companionship.
Similarly, seek to understand why they would want to as-sociate with you and what they want from knowing you. What are the mutual benefits?
Given there are seven billion people on this earth, there is no lack of people who can fulfill any role or purpose in your life, whether financial or personal. Own your power by becoming conscious of why you want a specific person to share a part of your life.
It is a privilege that you ask anyone into your life, just as it is an honor they choose to be in your life. Likewise it is a privilege when someone asks you to be in their life; and it is an honor that you choose to be in their life. Con-sciously choose who you want in your life and why.
In choosing your criteria, ask yourself if you genuinely enjoy and like the people you are associating with, and do they appear to enjoy and like you? Do you feel validated by them as a person and do you naturally validate them as well? Also con-sider whether you trust them, think they are honest, and share mutual respect.
If how you feel when you spend time with someone is important to you, then use it as part of your criteria for consciously choosing the people in your personal and financial life. For example: When you are together, do you feel depleted or more empowered? And, when you are apart, do you look forward to seeing them again or are you glad they are gone?
Successful people have a healthy level of what I call self- interest. This is your life. You have the right to choose with whom you associate. I also believe you have an obligation to respect others and seek mutual benefit from associating with them.
You may want to consider this list of criteria when select-ing people with whom you associate personally, financially, or in business: enjoy one another, trust one another, share mutual validation and respect, interact well together, and demonstrate compatible values, priorities, standards, beliefs, and mindset.
It is a privilege that you ask anyone into your life, just as it is an honor they choose to be in your life.
Also consider if you complement each other by providing strengths the other is missing.
Coaching: Open your Conscious Millionaire Journal. Write the names of your five closest relationships. What do you think is the average of their incomes and net worth? How close are those averages to what you seek? Is associating with them helping you move forward or holding you back?