Recently I had an interaction that has been on my mind today. For some background, I choose to surround myself only with people who make my life better in some way. They believe in me, see the world in a positive light, see the good in themselves and others, want to do good things with their lives and are committed to growth.
This is not always an easy task, especially in the business I am in. Many people who need my help are not yet in that place and it can be a difficult transition. My commitment to it remains the same however.
I was sitting around table, out to dinner with a group of people I was doing some work with / for and the conversation took a negative turn. The topic of reality TV came up and some of the people on a show were the main topic of conversation. The group all started to chime in being critical of the people, sort gossiping and basically just talking trash.
Here I was in a group of people who claimed to want to be successful in their lives, yet in the opportunity to be there with almost a dozen other successful and driven people, the choice they were making was to use the time to criticize complete strangers on a meaningless television program. The part that was hardest for me to take was, everyone seemed to TOTALLY ACCEPT THIS.
After some time I just interrupted and said: “Hey guys, this conversation isn’t serving anyone here, it’s pretty negative and I feel like it’s a waste of our time. Would everyone agree to change the subject? If not I can totally sit somewhere else.”
Everyone looked a little embarrassed, yet quickly agreed. We went on to have a great meal with insightful and positive conversation. Later during the day two of the women came up to me separately and thanked me for saying something. They appreciated the conversation that followed my comment, and had learned a lot. Their respect for my commitment to my own growth, and theirs, had increased exponentially.
I am clearly committed to what I want for my life. My question to you is, how committed are YOU? How committed are you to having everything you want? How serious are you about having a successful business, marriage, parenting relationship, financial status or physique?
Are you committed enough to show the world how you want to be treated and viewed? Are you committed enough to make yourself, and the people around you, a little uncomfortable in order to make everyone better? Or is not rocking the boat more important to you than your dreams?