Risk & Business Magazine Gifford Associates Fall 2016 | Page 14

RELATIONSHIPS

What Are Your Most Important Relationships ?

Who Do You Rely On ?

Years ago , my friend Ken Glickman was speaking at one of my events to around five hundred people . The scenario he laid out went like this : Imagine being on the Titanic with three of your closest friends … and the ship starts sinking . Your friends are in the water and freezing , and if they don ’ t get a life jacket in one minute , they ’ re finished . The dilemma ? You only have two life jackets .

At that moment , you immediately come face-to-face with the difference between “ important ” and “ most important .”
Now , hopefully you ’ re never put in that sort of situation , but I ’ ve thought about that scenario a lot .
Who can I really count on ?

WHO WILL REALLY BE THERE FOR ME ?

Who can I call in the middle of the night if I needed $ 25,000 for an emergency , and , without any explanation required , would send it to me ?
Off the top of my head , I have dozens of people like this in my life because I try to live my life in a way that is focused on being valuable to others . However , it can be hard to narrow things down to just a few key relationships . This process of elimination forces us to think , “ Who do I REALLY rely on ?” The most successful people make asking themselves this question a priority in their lives when it comes to budgeting focus and energy to their most important relationships .
In my own life , a lot of times I will do genius networking by connecting my friends with each other , and they will often become even greater friends with each other than they are with me . This actually points to another rarely revealed reality : Since I hang around many successful entrepreneurs , I know for a fact there are a lot of very successful LONELY entrepreneurs .
For instance , I remember being at a spa with someone who is famous ( I won ’ t share their name here ), and we were just sitting and talking . I asked , “ Who do you hang out with the most ? Who are your friends ?” Their response was , “ This is the first time
14 | FALL 2016