The Power of Association

Great post and all so true, life isn't fair but thats how it is...

The bottom line is that real friendship endures, over time, over continents, over pay packets, over everything. I know mine have! Friends who became way more successful than me and living in a different continent still zealously keep in touch with me and i know they are there for me no matter what or when or where!

also, have you noticed that when employed people talk to employed people they have the same grievances, and they sometimes dont consider the big picture. example, i employed a number of personal trainers. one girl complained to me that i was charging £30 ($60) per session and paying her £20. I was making a whole £10 out of her hard work! She never took into consideration the £50,000 yearly rent, £20,000 business rates, equipment hire, electricity, marketing, Tax etc etc... £10 !!! didnt scratch the surface! ;)

People who support this post seem to be shoelickers who either want to get prizes from you, or to gain some publicity for their own sites. How sad.

Readership dropped by 5000 in one day.

Hi John,

Thanks for the post. I gain some new insights and idea from this post today. :idea:

John, in the other side, I've heard a words saying "Leader is like an Eagle, you cant find it once at a time" ..as I know, Eagle doesnt seems to be flocking together, its usually "having his activity" alone :D. I'm not saying that I disagree with your "birds feather flock together", I just think it's not quite good analogy for your post idea.

John,
Good one . Obviously networking with smarter people make you smarter and successful.
Sailen
"Before you start some work, always ask yourself three questions - Why am I doing it, What the results might be and Will I be successful. Only when you think deeply and find satisfactory answers to these questions, go ahead."-- Chanakya
http://sensefruition.blogspot.com

Well, this has been the most interesting blog post I've read for some time because of the very human responses it has drawn from people. Good stuff John. Ask in me in 10 years time and perhaps I will agree with you; who knows.

"Sometimes, that means not hanging around with old friends as much, or letting them go completely."

Wannabe Richard Kiyosaki, I can't stand people like you. The typical fake and insincere "schmoozer" who doesn't care about anyone else except yourself and money. One who is so absorbed into a capitalistic mindset that you lose sight of all the truly important things around you. A "dot com mogul", eh? Good for you bro - you're rich and have lots of money. But that's all you'll ever have.

"I look forward to meeting you at Blog World Expo next week."

Yeah... sure. If I'm rich, right?

The fact that you view friends (and I'm willing to bet people in general) as being so disposable makes me question if your (monetary) success is even deserved at all. Just don't forget that it's people like those on your site who helped you get rich in the first place.

This is a great post John and thank you for the link. I would amend it a bit by saying "productive, successful and supportive friends" vs. "rich friends". Not everyone has the same goals, and not everyone equates being "rich" with being "successful".

As for me truly succeeding in life means much more than being wealthy. Being a good husband, good father (god willing) a good friend all make for success. Being good at what you do, taking pride in your work, your work ethic and being ethical in your job and personal life all give you a feeling of success.

By the same token I do have friends who are not wealthy but are very productive and supportive of what I do. On the other hand, I have some former friends that have wasted their lives. As a good friend I tried to help them but in the end, they are going to make their own choices and I have to make mine for me and the people I love.

Yes I want to make money but not for money's sake, I make money to give me the freedom and security I need to enjoy life and support my family.

btw I have failed in all of the above mentioned before and I am sure will again but the trying is part of what makes life rewarding.

Looking forward to meeting you at BlogWorld and continuing this discussion over a couple of beers=p.

I never say no to a Dot Com Pho!

Great see you at Blog World John.

True that...

I agree that the people that surround us have a big influence on the person that we are. That being said, I also know that oftentimes the strongest friendships are those that were there since we were young. My childhood friends who grew up with me know me and know the person that I am. I feel comfortable being myself with them. As we grow up and other people enter our lives, I always wonder what is their motivation. There is not that same element of being genuine. It is important to network to advance, but it is also important to recognize what's important in life... and that is happiness and being true to oneself. Every time you're about to lose a friend, whether on purpose or because you no longer keep in touch, ask yourself if it would be easy to replace that friendship and all the memories. Trust me, as time goes by, true friendships become harder and harder to forge.

I've lost all respect for you after this one post. Good bye.

Success is not measured by how much money you can make.

networking with right people is important. Sometimes you just can't say no to your friends. It frustrates me how my frinds and family ignore me when i talk about making money online. They think I'm crazy. They think that having 60k/yr job is so prestige. It will make you rich and sadly most my friends believe that. When i tell them there are live people making 60k/mo online, they think that someone is feeding me bullshit online.

This is why i working hard break out of this wage slave life. It will prove to them I was right.

These are some wise words, thanks for the reminder. I am totally in agreement with you on it.

If you want to become rich, then you need to hang out with the rich.

Rich people suck hairy monkey balls. I prefer to hang out with poor hot girls instead. :mrgreen:

不同意; 不一定的!!

I don't think John meant to castoff "unsuccessful people", i believe what he meant was to castoff "those who don't add any value" to your goals and success-oriented nature.

He specifically referred to those who are not ambitious in life.

Good advice, no........great advice!

I find this amusing as the majority of you agree with John Cow. Don't let your future disorientent your past as a man without a pass has no future.

Putting it down in writing like this makes it sound more mercenary than it is. In reality, we all change and grow over time and some times we outgrow relationships. It no longer makes sense to remain friends with people who don't share our values, or who even try to keep us from changing and growing. I don't think anyone is advocating sitting down with a list each January and deciding who does and who does not make the cut, but rather recognizing that relationships evolve over time. Invest time into the ones that are encouraging, supportive and keep you connected to who you really are at your core, and continue to be open to new relationships that inspire, motivate and connect you to who you want to become.

John,
I'm being very fussy, but get Nate to re-look at your site in Firefox as it doesn't view nicely, lines not matching up on the design.
Maybe you're ok with it though...

I have only one quetion for you, John...

Those rich folks you hang out with..

Will they continue to hangout with you IF YOU FAIL?

I completely disagree.

First of all, I value people more than I do business. Sure, I'm not going to be a millionaire, and I'm probably not going to be rich any time soon, but I refuse to look at life in this way. The thought of dropping someone from my social circle because they aren't successful is dumbfounding.

I work in the media and I have to say that I like my job. Maybe all of us "wage slaves" aren't deemed valuable enough to be in someone's social circle, but that doesn't mean we aren't successful.

None of my friends have ever got in the way of my goals. I think to generalize like this gives people a false impression of the world. I'm amazed to see so many people agreeing with this. Are people going to start evaluating their social circles now to cast off undesirables because someone said it's a good idea?

I have my own dreams and I don't need the people around me to achieve them. I meet a lot of people every day in my line of work, and I can't fathom how someone would suggest I judge these people based on how successful they are.

Maybe it's just that I'm young and in a different line of work. Actually, this is probably the reason I chose my line of work, because it is possible to be inspired by everyone -- from dot-com millionaires to plain old regular folk.

This is great advise except for one rider. One must first define one's idea of success. Now, for some, material success is very important, for some, recognition in creative fields and so on so forth. It is not necessary for some one in say, the social, non government sector, to attend trade fairs and the like, but seminars and training programs in their field become important.

...No man is an island...
I think it's the most importent phrase in the post (it's my mind). :idea: