3 Habits that Will Help You to Move Up in Life

You are who you hang out with.

For me, when I want to improve on my behavior, I hang out with people who are courteous and disciplined. When I want to improve my singing voice, I hang out with good singers. When I want to improve on my social skills, I hang out with likable and outgoing people. When I want to improve my academics, I hang out with smart and educated individuals. When my spending is out of control, I hang out with people who are frugal and thrifty. The general rule is to associate yourself with specific group of people that you believe can directly or indirectly influence your behavior.

When you hang out with the wrong crowd, life will drag you down. When you hang out with the right people, life will draw you up.

Here are 3 habits that will help you to move up in life:

1. It is better to hang out with people who are better than you. Sometimes, we are intimidated by people who are better than us. I was uneasy around them before but now I see it in a different perspective. When I stop to think about it, there are so many opportunities when I’m associating with people whom I consider better than myself. Instead of putting a wall between you and others, why not tear that wall down and be ready to absorb good stuff! Ignore the temptation to serve that little voices in your head who are saying negative things like, “Eh, you think you’re better than me. I’m not listening to you.” Or “Boo, you are not that cool. You’re just alright.” Or “Oh, you think you’re smarter than me? Well, I don’t think so!” The point here is not to close the door on those people who you considered better than you. Tear down that negativity wall. You gain everything by absorbing the good stuff and you gain nothing by closing your mind and heart. Don’t be afraid to hang out with people who you think are better than you. Learn from them!


2. Pick out associates whose behaviors are better than yours and you will drift in that direction. Have you ever told someone that you wish you could be as nice as him or her, or as patient, or as disciplined, or as caring and thoughtful, or as studious, or as thrifty? Well, the best way to emulate that person is to be around him or her so you can observe the behavior in real life application. To learn but not to do is not learning. To know but not to do is not knowing. Pick out those you admire and follow them around and watch how they behave. Learn from them!


3. Pick mentors who are considerably older and wiser than you are. As far as learning, there are two things in life that are very important. Education and Experience. Education requires hard work in a short period of time. Experience requires hard work in a long period of time. In most cases, anyone older than you has the tendency to know more because sometimes old dogs know all the tricks. I know each one of us has admirations to certain people. We look up and respect these people. Never underestimate the older and wise people in your life. As they would say back in the olden days, “Respect your elders.” My personal rule of thumb is, if you’re older than me – it doesn’t matter if you’re 50 years older, 20 years, 5 years, or even 6 months – I will always treat you with respect because I believe that you know better than me. Regardless of what everyone says, you’ve been on this planet Earth longer that I did. Therefore, I will learn from you!
   

We are who we associate with. Aim high in your associations and you will get to the top. Aim low and there’s no telling of how low you will go.