“Long ago I learned that critics are easy to find. Lots of people are ready to tell us how broken things are or how things can’t be fixed. However, there are also many people who spend their lives admitting the brokenness they see and trying to fix or repair. I need to be with people who want to fix things, make them better.” David Canada
Some time ago, one of my mentors shared this and it hit me right in the face.
It’s so true. And it is where I want to be.
If you want to be there too, I’m here with you my friend.
I see my brokenness and I am trying to fix and repair it. I am broken and I am trying.
It’s been said the difference between you now and you 5 years from now are the people you spend time with and the things you learn.
I think that’s wrong. Not completely wrong but wrong nonetheless.
I believe the difference is absolutely about the people you spend time with. If you spend time with people who tear you down, who tell you lies, who want you to stay where you are now, you will be very unhappy in 5 years.
I encourage you to remove the negative voices from your life and find at least 2 people you can trust to speak encouraging words into your soul and love into your heart. Let them know they matter and that you value them and appreciate them and pay attention to what they say and do. Pour your encouragement, appreciation and love back into them and then work to add a person here and a person there. A few deep capital F friends are way more important and fulfilling than many little f surface friends.
The second part is what you know. Knowing is not enough. I’ve realized this over the years as I am one who has read countless books, taken a ton of classes and listened to hours of videos and podcasts.
It’s not about knowing. It’s about doing.
Do something with what you learn. Do it imperfectly at first and then improve and keep doing it. To go faster, find a mentor or hire a coach who’s been there before. Then do it some more.
Today I am grateful for the mentors in my life who’ve come before me, the coaches I have hired who helped me go faster and the people who are no longer a part of my life that taught me they didn’t deserve my attention.
Bonus tip: Today, reach out and let those who’ve been fixers, who’ve been mentors, who’ve been doers in your life, know that they matter to you now, that what they did matters to you, and that you appreciate who they are in your life.