Who is it?

Who are you spending the most time with in your life?  I mean, who are you mostly talking to, conversing with, throwing ideas out to, listening to and seeking out for their counsel?

I read something interesting recently from Dan Miller’s blog and it made me stop and think.

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.  Doesn’t sound that complicated, does it?  Decide what success would look like for you, find someone already living that life, and spend time with them.”

This really made me stop in my tracks when I read this.

In the stage of life my wife and I are currently in (we have two young children), I don’t devote as much time as I would like with others that are successful.  Others of you may be at the same stage as me or at different stages in your life.  Maybe you are single and have the world ahead of you. Maybe you are married but don’t have kids.  Maybe you are married and have young children like us, or your kids are older and don’t require as much one on one attention as the younger ones do.

Whatever stage it is that you are in, we all need to take these few sentences above and think really hard on them.  Especially someone trying to be a Realchristianbusinessman.

Who are you spending your time with?

I am very fortunate in that I married my best friend.  She is person #1 (outside of God) that I spend the most time with, talk with, laugh with, bounce all my ideas of off, and just plain ole hang out with.  I have a couple of other friends of mine that I really enjoy spending time with as well, but not as many as I like.

For guys I know it is a challenge to find others that we are willing to invest our time in.  It’s not easy.  But I challenge you today to think about whom it is that you are spending YOUR time with, and make sure it is worth it and they are making you better.  Are they doing well? Are they striving to be the best they can be?  Or are they always complaining about how bad things are?  Are they looking at things “half full” or “half empty”?

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”  1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NIV84)

A real Christian businessman needs to surround himself with others that are trying to achieve success in life just like he is.  Don’t be afraid to seek these people out.  Don’t be afraid to find people like this.  And don’t be afraid to spend less time with some that you think may be pulling you down.  It will only make you a better person, a better father, a better spouse and a better friend.

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”

For you, who is it?