Your Community Either Makes or Breaks You

The people, places, and things surrounding you either
move you forward or they hold you back.
There is no staying the same. 

walking on a pedestrian

Your community or tribe either moves you forward or acts as a limiting governor in your life that slows you down and actually halts your progress.

This is a harsh pill to swallow but true nonetheless. Nothing is neutral. Everything has an impact. And everything is either contributing to the appreciation of your life and purpose, or it’s contributing to the depreciation.

Everything is either contributing to the appreciation of your life and purpose,
or it’s contributing to its depreciation. There is no neutral.

coach shouting at a boxer

A conversation regarding your community and social circle is rarely included in a conversation on purpose, but I can assure you it definitely should be.

The fact and you have experienced this, is that if your community, particularly your household, doesn’t support you in the fulfillment of your purpose it can be toxic.

Other people’s opinions of who you are or should be if bought into,
can keep you leashed, limited, and stuck.

woman standing in a crowd alone

I coached a young lady in the past who was confiding in how a family member was projecting his own fears upon her as she decided to follow her purpose and dreams.

Well meaning?

Most likely.

Empowering?

Not so much.

Disempowering?

Potentially.

Other people’s opinions can keep you stuck.

The Pygmalion Effect has been well documented in psychological research. Pygmalion was a figure in Greek mythology who literally fell in love with his statue, his own work of art, and the act of him projecting these qualities upon his art actually brought her to life.

Great metaphor.

Two more recent examples of the Pygmalion Effect are the Broadway musical Man of La Mancha as well as the movie Pretty Woman starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere.

In both cases, the image that one held of another became the reality in fact. This is not just the fodder of entertainment lore.

You can measure the quality of your life
by the quality of your relationships.

several hands making a heart shape

I know a 28-year-old man who’s heavily rooted in what psychologists call “learned helplessness.” The work of Psychologist Martin Seligman proves that when behavior is conditioned repeatedly over time it literally becomes reality—even when it’s only a reality in the mind of the person conditioned.

This man never picks up after himself. Never does his own laundry. Being the baby in the family he’s been conditioned into being just that—a baby—not a man.

It’s not his fault, but it is his responsibility, and life is going to knock him about the head and shoulders hard one day.

If our parents, our teachers, and our friends all treat us as if we’re helpless, helpless is what we’ll most likely believe ourselves to be; and most likely what we’ll become.

Their projection upon us is the Pygmalion Effect.



We’re all composed of multiple people with multiple facets, but which one of them we activate at any given moment may be just as determined by the people surrounding us as the person within us.

How many times have you seen a man who’s an absolute tiger at work only to become a pussy cat at home?

How about the savvy businessman who leaves the office, gets together with his buddies, and his entire language reverts to college slang while they’re all in the living room playing air guitar?

It’s a fact that it’s much easier for others to pull you
down than it is for you to pull them up.
They have gravity on their side.

person floating

Not that the people we want to be are of no consequence. But when who we want to be is in conflict with what another person’s perception of who we are triggers us, the person we want to be often gets suppressed.

The bottom line is that the people that we surround ourselves with often exert far more power and influence upon us than we like to admit.

If the people around you are primarily energy vampires,
there’s a high probability that you will suck as well.
Get a new community!

smiley emoticon balls

When two people interact they actually create a third person. The person they are together. I know that sounds mystical but it’s truly practical nonetheless.

If you ever hope to fulfill your purpose then you must surround yourself with people who believe in you and support you in your most noble pursuit.

A pursuit I call your Magnificent Obsession.

Just as powerfully and proactively you must begin removing yourself from those people who do just the opposite.

I love my mom, and she loves me as only a mother can. Yet I remember when I left AT&T to start my own company she had a long talk with me.

Son, have you really thought this through? You have a good job, a good salary, good retirement, and great benefits… are you sure this is a smart thing to do?

Your Community Either Makes or Breaks You

You see mom grew up in the “get-a-good-job-and-retire-with-a-pension” era. What mom didn’t realize is that era is long gone.

Your true security doesn’t reside in a job, salary, company, or position.
Your true security resides in your power to produce.

Man Using 3 Computers working

So once again, other people’s opinions of you can keep you stuck. You need a powerful community around you as we discussed, forget “like-minded people” find Harmonic Wealth-minded people. Find productivity and performance-minded individuals who like you, are committed to their own mastery.

We have a community with Harmonic Wealth-minded people right now. If you want to join you can view the details here.

Who are committed to bringing their greatness to the world.

Committed to creating world-class work.

Committed to becoming the very best in their field at what they do…

And if you can’t find them right this minute then wait.

Did you know that you were born into greatness? Learn how you’ve been conditioned into mediocrity.

There’s only one thing worse than being alone.
It’s being with someone and wishing you were alone.

man standing alone near a bench

All in due time.

Time is your friend when it comes to mastery, greatness, and purpose for only with considerable time—a minimum of ten thousand hours to be exact—can you fully bring your greatness and purpose to the world.

You must be willing to invest at least ten years in obscurity
to leave a lifetime legacy.

Like Captain Ahab in his absolute obsession with Moby Dick. So too must you find your Magnificent Obsession and give your total heart, mind and soul to it.

To recap what we’ve learned:

Your Community Either Makes or Breaks You infographic

Now it’s time for you to get busy…

Your move.

Be a Leader. Live Your Purpose; and Take Your Power Back!

james-arthur-ray-signature

James

BRAND NEW OPPORTUNITY:

Personal Purpose and Power. April 9TH-11TH 2021 via ZOOM

Go here: https://jamesray.com/personal-purpose-and-power/

ANOTHER NEW OPPORTUNITY:

The NEW Netflix! Staying at home more during turbulent times? Stop bingeing on movies and binge on your own happiness, fulfillment, and growth. #ProjectStayHome Get video coaching from James and Bear once per week (4X per month), join a Growth-Minded Community, get video recordings of all coaching sessions PLUS an archive of over 2,000 previous sessions (binge on that!) All for the same investment as Netflix, only $13.97 per month.

Go here and grab your spot: https://www.jamesraystore.com/product/the-ultimate-performance-forum/

COACHING:

Want to work with James as your COACH? We have several options.

Go here: https://jamesray.com/ultimate-performance-coaching-with-james-arthur-ray/