March 22

My father-in-law, a consultant, once flew on the private jet of one of his clients. The client said, “I couldn’t have been successful enough to have a jet without you.” My father-in-law said that the advice he’d given to the successful CEO was no different from similar advice he’d given to numerous executives over time. The difference was that the CEO could actually do something with it. He was in a position to be able to leverage the advice, whereas others would simply hear it, apply it in minor ways, and move on with their lives. Same advice but very different outcomes.

Who you surround yourself with matters. It’s not a matter of them pulling you up or down a level; it’s about making certain that you are associating with people who generate possibilities rather than liabilities. As songwriter Frank Turner wrote, “You should spend more time with the do’s than with the don’ts.” Surround yourself with people who feed you, who challenge you to be better, because they are playing a big game. You want people around you who listen wide eyed to your ideas and dreams. You want people around you who make things happen.

Spend time with doers, not don’ters.

Spend time with people who make things happen.

Who are the doers in your life? The don’ters?