why you should review your inner circle welcome to this week's video where we
are going to discuss inner circles and what you should look for in a friend
show me your friends and I will show you who you are is a well-worn phrase but a
true one nonetheless while our habits and our self-worth
shouldn't be dependent on others we rarely succeed alone we need other
people to push us in the right direction through advice motivation and sometimes
financial help while there are no rules as to what constitutes a good friend
there are several things you should always watch out for especially in your
inner circle I'll start with the story of two good friends Marcus and Tom they
grew up in the same neighborhood attended each other's birthday parties
visited each other in the hospital with sick studied for their final
examinations together and played baseball together they were the perfect
best friends and sworn never to stop being friends
however as close as they were they were different Marcus was an academic
performer and always emerged top of the class while Tom found himself in the
middle of the list at one point in high school Tom started avoiding Marcus
because they were so different however Marcus was quick to point it out
and talk about it he explained that he performed well in school and was not
going to stop because it was the only way he could qualify for an academic
scholarship however he also pointed out that tom was the school captain of the
baseball team and performed exceptionally well in the field he had
already received several scholarship invitations to colleges to play baseball
while studying Marcus was a good friend he did not deny himself but neither was
he putting his friend down after pointing out both their strengths he
explained why it was beneficial for both of them to help each other out to be
successful in the future to date Marcus and Tom lead different lives in
different cities but still create time to see each other
Marcus is an entrepreneur lecturer and angel investor tom is a successful
baseball player continuously making headlines and also taking time to coach
students back in his hometown in the same town where two other friends
Charles and Mason they took the school bus to
the other love skating drawing and we're part of the swim team for Charles being
part of the school swim team was an opportunity for him to grow and join the
Olympic team one day every day he would get to school two hours early and take a
few laps before changing for class he tried to encourage Mason to do the same
but later realized that Mason was more intent on being popular in school during
one of their school parties one of the boys brought some drugs
Charles refused given that the swim team competitions were around the corner and
he intended to win it Mason however was all for the party life eventually they
started growing apart and stopped being friends
Charles loved Mason but he knew that he could not keep up with his life he is
glad he joined his college swim team and plans to keep working with his college
mates to become a better swimmer unfortunately Mason and his friends have
turned into the neighborhood junkies initially Charles attempted to reach out
but realized Mason was more concerned with complaining about his life instead
of trying to make it better he got addicted to drugs and for him nothing is
beyond his quick fix in both cases the friendship seemed like they could last
forever it did for those that were willing to push each other forward but
failed in the second story why because the people we keep in our inner circles
have a huge impact on who we become so what kind of friends should you look out
for in your inner circle more importantly what kind of friends should
you keep around the negative Nellie's we all go through obstacles in life which
leave us feeling sad depressed or frustrated however after some time we
also want to move past our difficult moments and elevate our lives however
some people would rather be like Mason they would rather stay addicted to drugs
and complain that their lives are not as successful as yours and as much as you
would like to help these people they will always find ways to bring your
positive energy down with their sad stories and self-destructive habits in
the end you have to decide you want people who encourage you or those who
push you down people who are smarter than you jim rohn once said you are the
average of the five people you spend most of your time with
however we underestimate the power of this statement sometimes we don't know
realize what we were capable of until the people around us pointed out other
times we know exactly what we are capable of but need people that share
our energy to push us forward from our first story Marcus was quick to point
out Tom's strengths and encourage him to work on baseball Marcus knew that he was
different from his friend but he wanted him to be just as successful as he was
he was a good friend through encouraging and supporting Tom with his academics so
that he could qualify for better scholarships take a look at your inner
circle today do you have friends that are smart enough to identify your
strengths and support you to become better the Toxic influencers while this
is a bitter pill to swallow not all friendships are good for you from our
story no one understood this concept better than Charles he was aware that he
cared for his friend Mason especially because they grew up together and spent
the majority of their life together however being addicted to drugs and
swimming would never have worked Charles refused to sacrifice his future
for a quick hi and neither should you you do not have to sacrifice your
success for a friend that is too blind to be concerned about their own life you
can try and help them overcome their difficult time but ultimately you can't
force them to change people who offer constructive criticism having a friend
who is honest with you is good they will remind you that you should not be
drinking during the week because it will affect your productivity they will tell
you to go for that workout and visit the doctor for that checkup they might even
help you craft a CV for your next job by pointing out your mistakes constructive
criticism is essential and it helps us grow however it would help if you watch
down for people that use their criticism to bring you down you'll walk into the
room and they will point out how pale your shirt looks and that you should
dress better instead of looking like a homeless guy or you'll get a new pair of
shoes and they will insist that you got conned look out for that guy that will
always listen to what you do for work and point out how unsuccessful in poor
you are maybe it's envy maybe it isn't whatever
the case criticism should be constructive what are your thoughts on
friends and inner circles do you have an inner circle and if so do your friends
push you to be better have you lost a few friends on your way to success share
your experience and it's all learn from each other thank you
so much for watching please like share and subscribe and I will see you in the
next one