Elite

CHAPTER 7Surround Yourself with the Right People

The famous author and celebrated speaker Jim Rohn famously said, “We are the average of the five people that we spend the most time with.” If you spend time with elite people, you will always be challenged to grow and improve. Elite people find ways of making those around them elite. If you are wondering how this works, let me explain. If I have a cup of hot coffee and I drop an ice cube in it, both the ice cube and the coffee will begin to change. The ice cube will melt, and the coffee will become cooler. The temperatures of both objects equalize.

People behave similarly. If you decide to set a New Year’s resolution of running a half marathon or rollerblading in one for argument’s sake, then you are like the hot coffee. You are burning with excitement to accomplish a challenging task and ready to start training. If you have five friends who are couch potatoes by day and bar room heroes by night, you just dropped five ice cubes in your coffee. Whether you like it or not, those ice cubes will affect your passion, drive, and commitment to accomplishing your goal of running a half marathon.

Now imagine this: You are taking your time drinking your morning coffee. You notice that it is cooled off a bit. You boil some water and add the boiling water to your coffee. The two temperatures equalize and bring your cup of coffee back to an enjoyable temperature for drinking. Imagine how much better your odds will be of accomplishing your ...