Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 503 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

The Value of Associations – Attitude

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy podcast. This is Day 503 of our trek, and today is Philosophy Friday.

Every Friday we ponder some of the basic truths and mysteries of life and how they impact us in creating our living legacy. Currently, we are in a multi-week trek as we explore the teachings from some of my virtual mentors, such as Jim Rohn, Zig Ziglar, and Earl Nightingale. The core of our current trek is based primarily on Jim Rohn’s book called The Five Major Pieces to the Life Puzzle. I have learned a considerable amount from reading and re-reading this book on my own trek of life, and I trust that it will benefit you also. Keeping with the continuity of Wisdom-Trek, I will be adapting it to The Five Trails on Life’s Trek.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. As we approach the Christmas weekend, let us choose to take some time to relax and reflect on the true meaning and purpose of this blessed celebration in remembrance when Christ our Savior, who is God’s Word or the voice sent to us. We read in John 1:14, “The Voice took on flesh and became human and chose to live alongside us. We have seen Him, enveloped in undeniable splendor—the one true Son of the Father—evidenced in the perfect balance of grace and truth.”

As we ponder this verse, let us consider those who we associate with on a daily basis. We will continue the theme from the past couple of Friday’s on today’s trek on the Attitude Trail. Let us explore both the value of limiting associations with some people and the value of expanding associations with others.

If you have missed the past few Philosophy Friday treks, it would be good to go back and review them to get caught up on our progress so far. We have a lot of ground to cover today, so let’s break camp and continue on the second trail of this extended trek as we cover…

The Five Trails on Life’s Trek – Attitude Part 7

As a reminder, our overall extended trek will cover these five trails:

1. Philosophy

2. Attitude

3. Activity

4. Results

5. Lifestyle

1. The Value of Limited Association

Another option for protecting your attitude is limiting your association with certain people. You cannot avoid talking to co-workers or refuse to visit with certain relatives for the rest of your life. You can limit the time you actually invest with these people, and in so doing, limit their ability to influence you.

There are some people with whom you can invest a few minutes, but not a few hours. There are some with whom you can invest a few hours, but not a few days. Not when your mindset and the achievement of your dreams is at stake.

Excessive influence is undue influence. You can sometimes avoid having to end a relationship with a friend whose negative influence is affecting you by carefully limiting the amount of time you invest with that individual. You must be very careful even with the limited association. Occasional influences are very subtle because they can have an accumulative effect that is difficult to see. You must always remember that failure is the slow and imperceptible accumulation of small errors in judgment repeated on a daily basis over a prolonged period of time.

In your personal and business worlds about 80 percent of the people with whom you associate, the vast majority, will account for only about 20 percent of the results you achieve. Conversely, about 20 percent, the clear minority, will produce 80 percent of the good results.

Here is a strange but valuable insight to go along with that interesting fact. It is the 80 percent group (who only produce 20 percent of the good results) that will try to capture 80 percent of your time. The 20 percent group (who produce 80 percent of the good results) will receive only 20 percent of your time.

The challenge here should be clear. You should discipline yourselves to invest 80 percent of your time with the 20 percent who are helping you to produce 80 percent of the results, and 20 percent of your time with the 80 percent who are producing only 20 percent of the results.

This is not an easy assignment. Often those in the larger group are masters at gaining access to those who are striving to do well. They have the capacity, if you are not careful, to steal away about 80 percent of your valuable time. If you allow it, they will be like the camel who pokes his nose under the tent. Left unchecked, the camel will slowly inch his way inside the tent, and you will soon find yourself on the outside.

If you desire a successful, rich, and satisfying life, you must become aware of how the 80 percent group operates. Most are good people, but they are caught up in the search for the how of success and have not yet captured the importance of the why. They do not know that reasons come first and that answers come second. They have not yet discovered that when the human mind locks on to a personal obsession, it does not need a book of instructions or a training class on how to take advantage of opportunity.

There are those in the great multitude whose attention to progress and personal development has been greatly neglected. If you were fortunate enough to have discovered gold, and sought a few close friends with whom you wished to share your discovery, some would likely disappoint you.

If you asked for their assistance and their labor in exchange for part of your fortune, some would find fault with the terms of the offer. Some would complain about the splinters from the cheap shovels and the blisters brought about by their labors.

Some would complain about the distance from the comfort of their homes and the location of the gold mine. Some would complain about how bad the tax bite will be after all the work is done and how unfair it all is. Still, others would complain because someone else was getting more than their fair share. Others would condemn you for showing favoritism to certain friends.

Personal growth is not always an easy matter, but the worst days experienced by those who choose to give attention to the affairs of self-development are better than the best days of those who do not.

You must not delay your commitment to finding your own personal “gold mine” in life simply because of the opinions of others whom you deem to be worthy and deserving friends, but whose impact on your attitude and your self-confidence steals away too much of your spirit and dampens too much of your desire.

You are obligated to limit or remove the undue influences of those who are having the wrong effect on you. Otherwise, you risk losing your own vision due to the pessimism of those who do not share your desire to experience the rich and satisfying life.

2. The Value Of Expanded Association

Another choice you can make regarding your associations and their potential for impact on your feelings and connected attitude is expanded association. Very simply, this means finding people who have value and arranging your life to be able to invest more time with them.

Even a small amount of time can make a great deal of difference when it is invested with the right people. These people will educate, encourage, inspire, and assist you in moving in the right direction.

It is better to invest a little time with the right people than to spend a lot of time with the wrong people. By expanding your association to include more of the right people, and closing the doors to exclude or limit more of the wrong people, you expose ourselves to new and better sources of influence.

As 3 John 11 tells us, “Dear friend, don’t let this bad example influence you. Follow only what is good. Remember that those who do good prove that they are God’s children, and those who do evil prove that they do not know God.”

We are deliberately taking our trek slowly on The Five Trails on Life’s Trek as we continue to hike on the Trail of Attitude. Today we learned how to limit our time with those who hold us back and invest more time with those who will help us succeed.

Next Philosophy Friday, we will finish the Trail of Attitude as we explore new and better sources of influence and come to better understand that attitude is everything. Join us next Friday for additional insights. I know you will find these insights interesting and profitable in living a rich and satisfying life.

Our next trek will be Motivation Monday as we explore more trails of how to get and stay motivated to bring value to your world. So encourage your friends and family to join us, and then come along on Monday for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

If you would like to listen to any of the past daily treks, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.

As we take this trek of life together, let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend to others Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you on Monday!