You probably know someone who seems to always see the world negatively. They’re a “glass half-empty” type of person.
Instead of responding to “Hi, How are you?” with “Good, and you?” they’re more likely to say “Well…” and then launch into describing everything bad that’s happened today.
Get these folks in a group, and things start looking pretty grim. They complain about their families, their jobs, and about not being successful.
“I hate my job.”
“I can’t get any sales, my leads are terrible.”
“This whole industry is terrible, and it’s only going to get worse.”
The longer you listen and hang around, the worse you start feeling.
You start thinking about all the bad things happening in your life and all the roadblocks to success suddenly seem a lot bigger and more challenging to remove.
As uncomfortable as it might be, it might be time to think hard about who you’re spending time with.
The Success Feedback Loop
Who you hang out with and what they talk about is directly tied to your success and growth.
One of the major reasons I started the Oklahoma Professional Sales Association was to give sales professionals an opportunity to connect and be around other like-minded people.
Because when you’re surrounded by individuals who are headed in a similar direction as you, it’s a lot easier to move towards your goals.
Many of the road blocks are still there, but they start to look a lot smaller and less daunting. And someone following a similar path, with a similar outlook may be able to offer some helpful advice.
Success breeds success. Failure breeds failure. – At least when it comes to attitude.
The feedback loop works because the things you say and the things you hear others say build the vision of where you’re headed.
If you’re surrounded with people talking about success positively, the path of your own success tends to snap clearly into view. It works. I’ve seen it.
Think about it. Do you really want to sit around complaining about the way things are?
Or would you rather take leadership of your situation and surround yourself with people who spend less time moaning and groaning and more time taking steps to get where they want to go?