If you want to be better than you are, associate with people who can challenge you

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If you want to be better than you currently are, achieve more than you have done in the past and generally get more out of life, then it is vital that you associate with people who will challenge you to raise your game.

Now I don't mean this is a competition, and you want to get one over someone else. What I mean is this:
If you associate with people who spend all their time watching the telly and drinking beer, it is likely that you will do the same;
If you associate with people who do the same things that you do, you won't feel the need to challenge yourself or your thinking; But
If you associate with people whom you respect because they have qualities, skills and abilities that you admire and you would like to aspire to have or be, then you will have to raise your own game to be like them.

When I was in my late teens I used to play a lot of tennis. To be honest there wasn't much more to do in the village where I lived. Sure I hung out with my mates, but I enjoyed tennis and joined the local league. But I also knew that my game lacked power. So I joined the mixed doubles, and played against some of the most powerful servers in the competition. Why? because I wanted to be able to play with powerful strokes like they did. I needed to learn how to volley against these people. When facing a 100 kph serve, you needed not only to be able to defend yourself but to also return it and hopefully win a point or two. And when they weren't available to play, I challenged my cousin John to a game or two during the summer months (we played on outside courts in England btw). He was the most competitive player I knew and if I wanted to beat him (and I only broke his service game once that I can recall) I had to pick up my game....a lot.

I might not play tennis any more, but I do still use the same association principles in the rest of my life. I have disassociated myself with quite a few people who were content to do the same things in the same way for eternity. Personally I want to be better, achieve more and will seek out those people who I know will challenge myself and my thinking.

How about you? Do you have people you look up to and who challenge your thinking and behaviours? You should if you want to get on.

Cheers, L

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