If you want to soar like an eagle, don’t hang out with turkeys!

This quote, from Neil Bharadwa of Cambridge Fruit Company, made a lot of people laugh, but also made them think.

Renowned businessman Jim Rohn once said, “You’re the average of the five people you spend most of your time with.”

We often underestimate the importance of the company we keep.

I hope that the people you spend most of your time with are people you love and who love you, so if you have children or elderly relatives you obviously can’t just ditch them and decide to spend more time with your business associates, so let’s take Jim’s observation lightly!

However, Neil has a point. In business, we need to surround ourselves with people who will inspire us, challenge us and make us believe that we can achieve whatever we want.

You can’t change in isolation.

If you start achieving more success, the people you usually associate with will have to adjust to the new you. Some of them will love you for it and be inspired by you, but others will feel left out and may – sometimes without being aware of it – try to hold you back.

A great exercise is to write down five people you’d like to spend more time with who will help you to better at what you do, who elevate both your thinking and performance.

These people will change over time as you progress, so keep checking your list!

Who are you inspiring?

Even if you’re new to business, you’re not new to life. You have qualities, skills and experience that other people value so don’t hold back from sharing these. Some of the most inspiring people I’m hanging out with right now are still at college. I’m learning a lot from them!

If you’ve got any questions about where to find your eagles, let me know and we’ll talk!