Choose Positive People To Be In Your Life


The Power of a Black List

What causes a person to succeed and what causes another to fail? Obviously there are many reasons that create success. And in the process of working really hard and perservering, you may have forgotten about your environment...ahem...the company you keep.

What's the company you keep got to do with your success? And how can you learn from our mistakes?

The importance of a Black List

A black list consists of all those that you'd rather not meet. People who are negative. Who bring you down. Who sap your energy. These people need to be quickly put on a black list and removed from your life.

Isn't this chopping and slicing a bit dramatic?

Sure it's dramatic. And if you're wondering what all of this has got to do with business, let me sound you out. Today, you're more busy than you've ever been. You've got more distractions than ever before. And it ain't getting much better, but you already know that. Your business depends on your focus. And if there's one thing that negative people do, it's take you off focus.

They make you believe the economy sucks

They complain about the weather. They complain about taxes. And just about everything under the sun. These people need to be taken out of your life, like you'd pluck a weed from the garden. One swift chop, and they're out. And in this list, you may often find relatives, or friends you've grown up with. Doesn't matter. It's time for you to move on. Don't let them onto your white list. Don't hang around them.

You can't fly with the eagles if you continue to scratch with the turkeys

If you really want to move ahead in life, choose people who are pro-active. Who give you energy. Who are willing to help instead of complain and whine all day. These are eagles. Move with them, and watch your world change pretty dramatically.

Get your pen and book out and make a list

One set of people go into your black book. The rest go into your black list. The ones on the black list never need to know. They just never hear from you again. You're gone from their lives as far as possible. Gone, like a freight train. Gone like yesterday. And start putting the eagles in your black book. Your attitude and fortunes will change almost instantly, once you make this simple move.

It's the concept of the People on the Bus

Good-to-great leaders understand three simple truths. First, if you begin with "who," rather than "what," you can more easily adapt to a changing world. You choose to be with some people in your life. If those people join the bus primarily because of where it is going, what happens if you get ten miles down the road and you need to change direction?

You've got a problem. But if people are on the bus because of who else is on the bus, then it's much easier to change direction: "Hey, I got on this bus because of who else is on it; if we need to change direction to be more successful, fine with me." Second, if you have the right people on the bus, the problem of how to motivate and manage people largely goes away.

The right people don't need to be tightly managed or fired up; they will be self-motivated by the inner drive to produce the best results and to be part of creating something great. Third, if you have the wrong people, it doesn't matter whether you discover the right direction; you still won't have a great company. Great vision without great people is irrelevant.


Excerpt from Good To Great - By Jim Collins

Practical Applications of having the right people:

  1. Which forums are a better use of your time? Which are not?

  2. Which networking groups are more fruitful than others?

  3. Which social circle is always negative? Can you get rid of that lot, quickly please?

  4. Which strategic alliances are not quite on par? Do you really want to work with them?

  5. Which clients would you rather not deal with? And which ones do you love?

  6. If you have staff, who would you keep? And whom would you remove?
Personal Experience:

At Psychotactics.com, we have a blacklist. We won't work with a lot of so-called gurus out there. They're on our black list. Doesn't matter how big and famous they are. We put our strategic alliances to the sword. We ask ourselves, "Is this whom we want to work with for the rest of our lives?" We use the same philosophy in our social lives. We chop, snip, and keep ourselves aligned only to those who are positive and moving ahead in life.

It may sound harsh, I know, but eventually, your mama wasn't wrong. You are known by the company you keep. In fact, you BECOME the company you keep.

Copyright © 2001-2008 Psychotactics Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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Stories / Articles 2008



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