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Surround Yourself with People You Want to Be Like

<p><img class&equals;"aligncenter wp-image-11622" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;collegecareerlife&period;net&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;08&sol;achievement-agreement-arms-1068523-1&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"800" height&equals;"524" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are&period;”<&sol;em><br &sol;>&NewLine;—author unknown<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Did you know that the four people with whom you spend the most time are who you become in the future&quest; Scary&comma; isn’t it&quest; This fact alone should make you very selective about the company you keep&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Think about the individuals with whom you spend your leisure time&period; Perhaps you go to dinner with certain people once a month&period; Or you go to the movies with someone who insists on choosing the films that aren’t even of interest to you&comma; but you concede rather than going to the movie of your choice all by yourself&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Whatever the case&comma; recognize that—for better or worse—over time&comma; these people become influencers of your interests&comma; actions&comma; and even how you think&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Make a list of the four people with whom YOU spend the most time&period; Now&comma; I am not asking you to disinherit your family members&period; Nor am I recommending that you change jobs—at least not for now&period; I am talking about the individuals with whom you choose to spend time outside of your family and work lives&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>What are the five qualities that these individuals possess&quest;  Are they punctual&quest; Fiscally responsible&quest;  Well-read&quest; Are they good listeners&quest;  Have a thirst for knowledge&quest;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Or are they me&comma; me&comma; me people&quest; Are their reading interests shallow by your standards&quest; Are they constantly sharing their tales of woe without bothering to ask what is going on in your life&quest;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Ask yourself&comma; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Are you reinvigorated after spending time with these people or are you emotionally zapped&quest;” Evaluate the ROI &lpar;return on your time investment&rpar; with these individuals by asking&comma; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;What have I gleaned from these people&quest;” Are you now more fiscally responsible&quest; Have you started reading books based on their author recommendations&quest; Have you acquired a passion in opera&comma; theater&comma; ballet and&sol;or classical music as a result of their interests&quest;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>If you realize that you are merely filling time with one of more of these individuals&comma; adjust your relationship by getting together with them less often&period; You may recognize that the value of the interactions with these people is that these relationships are not based on what they bring to you&period; Au contraire&excl; Rather&comma; these relationships have value based on YOUR interests&comma; experiences and knowledge&period;  In other words&comma; what you bring to the relationship table&period; If that is the case&comma; then categorize your time with these people as that of &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;paying it forward&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>At the same time&comma; give serious thought to the interests that you would like to develop and with whom you should surround yourself in order to expand your horizon&period; Heed counsel from the maven of advice&comma; Oprah Winfrey who has been quoted as saying&comma; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher&period;” She certainly is right&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>You will gain much satisfaction by giving your time to others&period; You also will experience a sense of gratification by being intellectually&comma; emotionally&comma; spiritually and&sol;or physically stimulated by the individuals with whom you choose to surround yourself&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>It is called the Circle of Life&period; After all&comma; in the big picture&comma; you have to give to receive&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><img class&equals;"alignleft wp-image-11616" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;collegecareerlife&period;net&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;08&sol;Sabath-1-150x150&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"180" height&equals;"180" &sol;>Ann Marie Sabath<&sol;strong> is the founder of At Ease Inc&period;&comma; the 31-year-old New York City-based business consulting firm&period; Her ninth book&comma; <em>What Self-Made Millionaires Do That Most People Don’t&colon; 52 Secrets for Creating Your Own Success<&sol;em>&comma; was just published by Career Press&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Surrounding Yourself with People You Want to Be Like” is one of the 52 Secrets&period; For more information&comma; visit <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;annmariesabath&period;com&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener" data-saferedirecturl&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;google&period;com&sol;url&quest;q&equals;http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;annmariesabath&period;com&sol;&amp&semi;source&equals;gmail&amp&semi;ust&equals;1534085150644000&amp&semi;usg&equals;AFQjCNHCF7BLMaV1WVuJOJOiL54HmBY7TA">www&period;annmariesabath&period;com<&sol;a> and <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;24-7pressrelease&period;com&sol;press-release&sol;455470&sol;ann-marie-sabaths-six-solutions-for-creating-your-own-success-what-even-the-most-driven-eminently-qualified-people-miss" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener" data-saferedirecturl&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;google&period;com&sol;url&quest;q&equals;http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;24-7pressrelease&period;com&sol;press-release&sol;455470&sol;ann-marie-sabaths-six-solutions-for-creating-your-own-success-what-even-the-most-driven-eminently-qualified-people-miss&amp&semi;source&equals;gmail&amp&semi;ust&equals;1534085150645000&amp&semi;usg&equals;AFQjCNEplv7ANqLxnLqIDDWeK7uUmfRTZQ">www&period;24-7pressrelease&period;com&sol;<wbr><&sol;wbr>press-release&sol;455470&sol;ann-<wbr><&sol;wbr>marie-sabaths-six-solutions-<wbr><&sol;wbr>for-creating-your-own-success-<wbr><&sol;wbr>what-even-the-most-driven-<wbr><&sol;wbr>eminently-qualified-people-<wbr><&sol;wbr>miss<&sol;a>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

Andrea: