Have you ever considered that your success is determined by the attitude of the people you spend the most time with? Just think about that for a moment. If you surround yourself with successful positive people it stands to reason that you too will gravitate to their level.
We have witnessed this phenomenon during the Olympics and none more so than on Sensational Sunday, when the UK won 5 gold medals. The best result for the team in any Olympics held abroad. What is even more amazing about the feat is that two of the gold medals occurred in gymnastics, a sport that the UK has never won a gold medal in before.
Over the last decade, led by Louis Smith, the sport has grown in popularity and attracted new talent in the shape of Max Whitlock – who went on to win two gold medals. Part of Whitlock’s success is in no small part to the trailblazing that Louis did for the sport and the fact that he won a silver medal in the 2012 Olympics and a bronze in the Beijing Olympics.
We’ve also witnessed similar success in the Velodrome where the success of an initial handful of riders has rubbed off on the team and at the time of writing this the UK has secured 4 gold medals and 3 silver medals in the cycling events. An incredible feat again considering that two decades ago the sport was barely visible in the UK.
I experienced my own mini-version of how surrounding yourself with successful people helps you up your game and become more successful when I was out running on Sunday. At one point during my run a lady overtook me as I was coming down the hill near my house. She then proceeded to run past me continuing on the same track that I was planning on following. There was something about following her (or was I chasing her!) that helped me up my game and go much faster than usual. The result was that I covered the longest distance I have ever done in 30 mins and not surprisingly in the fastest time.
Personally I was really amazed at the impact that her presence had had on me and how it had helped me improve my performance beyond what I thought I was capable of. And that’s the power of surrounding yourself with people more successful than you. They can help you achieve levels that you may have previously thought were impossible. They encourage you to reach for the stars and be your best as they model what is possible.
So who are you surrounding yourself with? Are they people that will help propel you and your business to the next level, or are they folks who are doubting you, putting you down and quashing your dreams.? Recognising this is the first step in helping you change your environment to one that is more positive and supportive to your growth.
I really look forward to hearing about what changes you make as a result of reading this weeks Wednesday Wisdom.
Julia Felton (aka The Business Wrangler) is the founder of Business HorsePower. Business leaders, entrepreneurs and executives hire her to accelerate their business performance by harnessing the energy of their people to work more collaboratively together. By aligning purpose with actions the team achieves exponential results as everyone starts pulling in the same direction.
Julia believes that business is a force for good and through designing purpose-driven businesses that leverage the laws of nature, and the herd, you can create businesses founded on the principles of connection, collaboration and community that make a significant impact in the world.
