Take a look at your savings account. If you lost your job, is there enough money in there to last you three months? After all of the credit card bills, the rent, mortgage, cell phone bills, gas, car payment, insurance, etc, can you survive for 3 months?

Someone once told me this story. I don’t really remember too many of the details but here is what I do remember:

A multi-millionaire went up to a personal development coach very frustrated. “I don’t understand! No matter what I do, I simply can not become a billionaire. I know that you should only associate with successful people so I only associate with other multi-millionaires. I work harder than I ever have; yet, I still haven’t been able to do it.”

The coach looked at him, and with a smile he said, “The answer is simple, you are associating with the wrong crowd. To become a billionaire, you must only associate with billionaires. Spending time with people who are at the same level as you does not challenge you to grow.”

Your bank account is a direct reflection of your 10 closest friends. Take the average amount of money they are making and that is most likely what you are making. It’s time to take an unbiased, reflective look at your 10 closest friends. Do any of them have the type of money, the success, the future, the goal-oriented mindset that you want? If not, you have to realize, no matter how painful it is, that your friends are hurting you more than helping you.

This is a hard lesson that I learned myself. Without even realizing it, I began to associate myself with people who were less successful than me. As a result, two things happened, I felt better about myself because I was comparing myself to those who were less successful than me, and in doing so things got worse because I was surrounding myself with people who wouldn’t challenge me to become a better person. I have since surrounded myself with like-minded individuals. People who have a direction in life and are successful in all aspects of life: spiritually (not necessarily religious), personally, and professionally.

Now follow these steps:

1. Make a list of your 10 closest friends
2. Next to their name, add a -1 if they are less successful than you, a 0 if they are the same, and +1 if they are more successful
3. Do the same thing evaluating their desire to better themselves, willingness to help others, commitment to their promises, amount of support they give you, what your parents would think (I know this sounds strange, but trust me on this), and finally their loyalty.
4. Add up all the numbers.
5. Time for the hard part, take a look at the people who scored 0 or less and forget the fact that you have known each other since 1st grade or any other emotions. Do they really positively impact your life? Do they challenge you to become a better person and support you and your goals?

It’s time to start a new Top 10 friends list, and the first to be added to that list is everyone who scored greater than 1! Good luck, your future self will thank you.

It has now been over a month since I first published 8 Points To A Great Voicemail Greeting. Point 5 was to change your greeting every month. This is just a reminder, have you changed your Voicemail Greeting lately?

I have began to call people who have indeed changed their voicemail greetings using the 8 points and the message that they are sending out is that they really welcome voicemails and communication. There are still other people that I call who have not changed their voicemails in all the years that I have known them. Their greeting is very uninviting, and I know that is not the message that they are trying to send out, yet they are not doing anything about it. Worst of all, there are many who still have the automated voicemail greetings.

After you have finished reading this, call your voicemail and ask yourself a few questions:

• Do I sound friendly and inviting?
• Is my greeting exciting and not boring?
• Does it have a hint of my personality in it?
• Does it sound personal and not like a generic greeting?

If you answered “no” to any of those questions, it’s time to change! To hear what my voicemail sounds like, feel free to give me a call at (360) 259-6232. Now please keep in mind that you are calling my cell phone… so I might actually pick up. If so, get ready for a wonderful conversation. Another thing to remember is that I am in the Pacific Time Zone. Either way, it would be great to hear from you!

You know how to introduce people right? Sure, you’ve been doing it for years now:

“Josh, this is Karla. Karla, this is Josh”

And once the introductions are made, the conversation sounds similar to this:

“Hi Karla, nice to meet you. Nice to meet you too Josh”

But then the conversation dies. It’s not Josh’s fault and it’s not Karla’s fault, the fault lies with the introduction. When you introduce two people, what you really want to do is build a relationship. For that to happen, you must give a foundation for the relationship to build on. Instead of just telling each other the names, why not give them some information about each other so that they can actually have a conversation. Here are 6 techniques that have proven effective for me:

1. Similar Interests: Chung, I know how much you love Germany. My friend Nickie actually just got back from Germany last week.
2. Their hobbies: Jessica, this is David. Like you, he has also been playing tennis for years.
3. Their talents: Frodo, I’d like you to meet Samwise. Sam is an incredible gardener.
4. An interesting fact: Robin, this is Ted. Did you know that Ted actually licked the Liberty Bell?
5. A professional relationship starter: Nam, this is Anthony who is the CIO of XYZ Corporation. Anthony, Nam is an IT Consultant who specializes in DBA.
6. Say something nice: Carie, I’d like you to meet Rhyan. Rhyan is by far one of the funniest people I know.

As you can see, introducing people can be fun and easy. Simply give the names, and then a little bit of information so that they can begin a conversation. Not only will the two people have a better conversation, but you will begin to have the reputation of being known as a people connector.