On why the company you keep and how you deploy your time matters in life…
Miguel de Cervantes once famously said “Tell me what company you keep and I will tell you what you are!” It is this thought that is explored in the ‘rule of 5’. The rule of 5 is a golden principle that can take you closer to your goals, one step at a time! There is no one better person to define it than celebrated Motivational Speaker Jim Rohn. According to him ‘we are the average of the five people we spend the most time with.’
Let me Elucidate! Take the incomes of 5 people that you spend your time most and average it. The average will be around your income. It is said that if you have 5 intelligent friends, you are the 6th. The same goes for popularity, wealth and so on and so forth. By the same theory it is safe to assume that if you are spending most of your time with 5 friends, who are negative, struggling financially or not doing well in general, then the chances are very high that you are in the same boat.
If the above makes sense, how can we implement it in our lives? Let us break it into a step wise plan!
1. Write down the names of 5 people that you look up to and want to spend time with. These 5 people should be ones capable of helping you grow as a person. Most importantly, these 5 people must have achieved something in life.
2. Cast around in your network to contact them.
3. Arrange for a minimum 50 minute meeting with them every month. This means that you have 4 hours of personal growth planned for each month
4. Invite them for lunch if you could. What’s edge in that? You get, on an average, 1.5 hours with them. This will almost double your time with them every month.
5. If the people that you want to meet are not on the island or highly popular, follow their lectures or seminars on you tube or social media
You may be wondering if these 5 people want to spend time with you or what is in it for them. If you are clear about what you want out of them, they will be glad to be of assistance to you. Here is the why!
• It's human tendency to assist if you request. To help others is a fulfilling feeling. To feel useful and appreciated for the help you do is a primal need.
• People who have achieved something always want to share their wisdom with people who want to grow in life. They know that it is better to teach a man to fish than give him a fish!
This year, I want to meet or follow the following people in the coming 12 months:
1. Gregory Elias ( I hope he reads this blog and makes it easy for me)
2. Brad Sugars ( To build on top of the seminars and conferences of his that I attend)
3. Shawn Moon (Well, It won’t hurt to get a bit more of my ‘Talent Unleashed’)
4. Mahatma Gandhi (To soak up and assimilate his values into my life through books about him )
5. Jack Canfield ( Can always do with a bowl more of his chicken soup for my soul)
Any relationship can thrive in the long term, only if there is some form of mutual enrichment built into it. It’s a clear sign to weed it out, if you gain nothing out of an association or relationship. While material benefits count too, we are not talking only about them. Equally important are emotional, intellectual or spiritual enrichment and fulfillment. The people involved should bring in any one kind fulfillment at least into the equation. Else the relationship has little chances of lasting. Choosing your company right helps you from falling victim to the wrong side of rule of 5.
Harish Rao is a Curacao based Entrepreneur, Investor and coach. He is the CEO of Abaque group. Finsight global, Seguros Muskus (representative of New India Assurance in Curacao, Bonaire and the Windward islands), Partem education are some of the key ventures of the Abaque group.
Harish lives by his vision of “Empowering people to master themselves through education”. That perhaps, translates into his success as a business coach
