RELATIONSHIPS
I ’ ve hung out with someone in fifteen years .” This is more the norm than you might imagine . A lot of people go out and build big companies and have all kinds of fame , but they feel empty . Janis Joplin said , “ On stage , I make love to twenty-five thousand different people . Then I go home alone .”
Focusing on the key relationships in your life isn ’ t just a smart way to identify where to invest your focus and energy — it ’ s also human . It deepens connections . It creates meaning in our lives .
One thing I often tell people is that you ’ re either in communication with someone or you ’ re trying to escape . When we talk to people , we go in and out of different thoughts . We think about our kids . We think about what we have to do that day . We think about going to the bathroom . When you ’ re communicating with someone while simultaneously trying to escape , it could be that you ’ re not aligned with that person … OR … you may not be aligned with yourself .
I grew up shy , introverted , and scared . I used to get high , practically daily , in high school , and I was a terrible drug addict because I didn ’ t know how to interact with other humans . In retrospect , it ’ s kind of funny that I built one of the highest-level relationship networks in the world for successful entrepreneurs ( called Genius Network ), because social skills did not come to me naturally . It was survival . I was either going to hate life , or I was going to figure out how to interact with other humans .
SO , WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH ALL THIS ? Marie Kondo , the author of The Life-
BY : JOE POLISH FOUNDER & CREATOR , GENIUSNETWORK . COM
Changing Magic of Tidying Up : The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing says , “ The best way to choose what to keep and what to throw away is to take each item in one ’ s hand and ask : ‘ Does this spark joy ?’ If it does , keep it . If not , dispose of it .” You can apply this to people too . Does this person spark joy ? If they don ’ t , do everything you can to minimize interactions with that person and cultivate more meaningful relationships with the people that spark joy for you .
The number one aspect of your life that you must protect is your attention . Yet , what consumes most people ’ s attention is noise . A lot of entrepreneurs spend their time with clients that are angry , complainers , or needy . Every person owns a piece of your attention . Your progress in life is dependent on how good you are at protecting that attention . It ’ s like the old saying , “ The squeaky wheel gets the oil .” However , my good friend Peter Diamandis has a better way of thinking about it : “ The squeaky wheel gets replaced .”
Not all your relationships are equal . What are the relationships in your life that need to be replaced ?
Make a list . Get clear . Free yourself .
What are your most important relationships ?
Cultivate them . Deepen them . Make them a priority in your life . +
Joe Polish is the founder and creator of GeniusNetwork . com , one of the highestlevel relationship networks for successful entrepreneurs , and co-founder of 10xTalk and I Love Marketing , two highly popular podcasts on iTunes .
FUNDAMENTALS
THE SUPPLEMENT
IDEAL TEAM PLAYER : How to Recognize and
Cultivate CONTENT
The Three Essential Virtuesships
by : Patrick Lencioni The Ideal Team Player , Lencioni tells the story of Jeff Shanley , a leader desperate to save his uncle ’ s company by restoring its cultural commitment to teamwork . Jeff must crack the code on the virtues that real team players possess , and then build a culture of hiring and development around those virtues .
Beyond the fable , Lencioni presents a practical framework and actionable tools for identifying , hiring , and developing ideal team players .
TOPGRADING : The Proven Hiring and Promoting Method That Turbocharges Company Performance
by : Dr . Brad Smart Three huge problems account for the typical poor results in hiring : dishonesty ( via deceptive résumés ), incomplete information ( via shallow interviews ), and lack of verifiability ( via biased references ). Topgrading shows how to solve all three problems . Instead of hir ing by your gut reactions to résumés and interviews , you can start using a scientifically honed process that compels candidates to be totally honest .
The Topgrading system makes hiring easier , faster , and more successful than any other process .
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