This comes from master motivator Kevin Elko:
David McClelland is considered the number one motivational researcher in America. On the faculty at Harvard, he conducted research which found that whom you have around you the most, such as your friends, is the biggest influence on your wealth. I have found that people do not take that finding very seriously, even though they lecture their children on the company the children keep constantly. So let's do an exercise. Look at your cell phone to see what phone numbers you have dialed and texted the most frequently. Those names are the biggest influence on your life, your attitude, your wealth, and probably even your health. Does anybody on that phone ever introduce you to a higher standard? Do any of those numbers talk to you about blessings they have experienced, kindness they have seen, books they have read or opportunities they have noticed? Or do these people call you about how badly the government has been cheating everybody, how things are not what they used to be, how t axes are going to kill us, and how miserable their spouse is (I wonder why)?
Many people get on the phone with a select number of friends and relatives to complain about life. I have big news here; complaining is not cathartic. In fact, if you complain, you will remain. Isaiah 18:5 discusses how, when a tree begins to grow, the bottom branches often suck all the sap out of a tree, but since these branches bear no fruit, the gardener cuts the bottom branches off so the sap and the energy can get to the branches that do bear fruit; these lower branches are called sucker branches because they suck all the energy. Likewise, there are so-called friends like these brsanches, they suck all the energy, but the friendship bears no fruit. In fact, I think evil is having faith that something bad is going to happen; therefore, as a result of complaining to one another, you can awaken this vision to something out there that is bad, and you can then set into motion what your bad thoughts and conversations manifest.
Two men had heart failure and were in a hospital room together. One man sat up every day to clear his lungs and told the other guy what he saw out the window: “Today I see children playing and laughing.” And “You should see the leaves changing; they are beautiful.” Then, the man next to the window passed away; the following day when the nurse walked into the room, the roommate asked the nurse what she saw outside of the room. She said, “Nothing, the window faces a brick wall.” The man responded, “But my roommate everyday told me all the beautiful things he saw out there.” The nurse replied, “Your roommate was blind, but he must have wanted you to envision beautiful things in your head.” Chose friends who introduce you to a higher standard and who want you to envision beautiful things in your head. Then, be that kind of friend to others.
Check out: www.dr.elkow.com
