Ep. 160 Surround Yourself With Big Thinkers and Action Takers

The people you surround yourself with constantly influence everything you do, from the clothing you wear to how you run your business to what beliefs you hold! 

And while you can counteract some of this subconscious conditioning with your thoughts, it’s hard to do that if you don’t recognize the types of people you surround yourself with in the first place. 

Read on to learn a bit of my backstory, the limiting beliefs I’ve overcome, and how changing the types of people I surround myself with has made a world of difference in my life.

Your Limiting Beliefs Come From the Types of People You Surround Yourself With

I often talk about my childhood and background. I have an INCREDIBLE Mom whom we call Mamita. She is the most inspiring person I know. She raised us in a well-kept, sparkling clean, and beautifully decorated home, and she always cared for us no matter what. I can go on and on about Mamita!

However, we were poor. We were raised on welfare by a single parent, and things were almost always a struggle financially. She raised us to be good, hard-working humans and kept us safe, but needless to say, we didn’t live in the best neighborhoods. 

Before sharing this story with you, I acknowledge that MY story may not be the same as yours.  But what I’m hoping is that you’ll find it relatable. 

Maybe you can’t identify with living in poverty and crime-ridden neighborhoods with people who had many limiting beliefs. But people with limiting beliefs come in all shapes and forms, from all walks of life, and all socioeconomic levels. And their limiting beliefs often become YOUR limiting beliefs, especially in childhood.

My questions for you are: How have you been conditioned? What programmed thinking has been instilled in you? What types of people are you surrounding yourself with? And what do the people around you repeatedly tell you that you don’t want to believe? 

Wanting More and Going For It

Looking back at my youth, I knew at a young age that I wanted MORE. I especially wanted more wealth—which, in turn, meant more giving, more experiences, more travel, and overall a better financial life. 

It took a LONG time to build a better life for myself, and I could always sense that I sometimes wanted more than the people around me. Wanting more for myself wasn’t (and isn’t!) a judgment on them or me. It’s just how I am. And it also took a long time to embrace who I really am. 

After graduating high school, I went on to get a college degree, which wasn’t the norm where I come from. One night I was out with friends, and a group of guys we grew up with were there. 

We were all leaving, and I can’t recall what happened or what led to this, but one of the guys must not have felt comfortable with who I was becoming. He started yelling at me, “YOU are from the ghetto, and you’ll always be from the ghetto!!” He was SO angry.

Their Limiting Beliefs Don’t Define Me

I don’t deny where I come from. Ever. In fact, I embrace it—it made me who I am. I served in the city I grew up in for almost 20 years and still LOVE Cleveland. I love the diversity, the culture, and the history. 

But living in poverty, struggling financially, and being surrounded by small-thinking people doesn’t have to define me! I get to choose the types of people I surround myself with.

For instance, just because others around me think money is evil doesn’t mean I have to think or believe this. I know the opposite to be true! The more I make, the more everyone benefits, including those I love and the people/organizations I want to support. And I will NOT apologize for that. 

The Types of People to Surround Yourself With: Big Thinkers, Dreamers, Action-Takers, and Believers

As I approach 50 years old, I am finally embracing the big thinker and dreamer in me. 

I recently realized that I have a couple of badass biz besties who truly get my big dreams and goals and, even more importantly, have similar drives. They’re big thinkers and action-takers.

It fuels me even more whenever I chat with them—whether via text, phone, in-person, or on Voxer.

I hear them talking about their next move and their big wins. Not only do I get excited for them, but it gets ME to embrace the big thinker and dreamer in me. It gets me to stop suppressing the big goals I have. Their action inspires AND motivates me! 

It also sometimes reminds me how I, at times, STILL play small. I’ve made progress here, don’t get me wrong—I have a podcast that’s in the top 15% of podcasts WORLDWIDE! That’s crazy. 

But I still hide sometimes, although I can sense this is shifting. Getting out of hiding mode is why I constantly crave being around badass women. And that’s ONE of the many reasons I created Master Shopkeepers—it’s the group I always wanted to be part of.

The number of badass women in that group is beyond inspiring and motivating. They inspire me to be a better expert, coach, business owner, and human being.

“You are the sum of you who surround yourself with” is so true. But you may not realize that the types of people you surround yourself with might be holding you back (or keeping you from taking action and going for what your heart truly desires).

If this is an area of your life and business you want to improve, you’ll need to make some changes and probably set some boundaries—potentially with your loved ones, too!

Your Beliefs Are Everything

I recently heard someone say, “entrepreneurship is a game of personal development.  If you don’t have the business you want, it’s because you haven’t become the person who can run it yet.” 

But I’m going to change that slightly. Because what gets you there is BELIEF.

So here’s my version: “entrepreneurship is a game of personal development. If you don’t have the business you want, it’s because you don’t believe you’re the person who can run it yet.” 

If you surround yourself with people who keep you from believing—or even if you have one or two people that struggle with their thoughts and then those thoughts trigger yours—how will you ever believe that you can do it?!

It’s a vicious cycle. And the only way to get out of it is to surround yourself with people who will lift you up rather than drag you down. 

Now is the time to surround yourself with the big thinkers, the dreamers, the action-takers, and the believers—and watch how your beliefs change.

Resources

• Get on the waitlist for the Savvy Shopkeeper Virtual Conference in May 2023! Waitlisters get the best ticket price, a physical swag bag, and first dibs on VIP tickets for Day 3 of the conference. 
• Apply to join the only territory-protected mastermind that includes retail skills building and personalized coaching: Master Shopkeepers

Timestamps

• [02:53] Your Limiting Beliefs Come From the Types of People You Surround Yourself With
• [05:42] Wanting More and Going For It
• [07:05] Their Limiting Beliefs Don’t Define Me
• [08:03] The Types of People to Surround Yourself With: Big Thinkers, Dreamers, Action-Takers, and Believers
• [12:10] Your Beliefs Are Everything