I was giving a talk recently and one of the things we discussed was the idea of creating your own context.

I strongly believe that you are the average of the 5 people you surround yourself with – and this includes people you follow, read or watch online.

You are being influenced every single day – and unless you take charge of what goes into your mind, you will end up thinking thoughts you don’t want, and doing things that don’t serve you. This topic brought up an interesting point.

What if you are surrounded by negative people who happen to be your family members or close friends?

If this has ever happened to you, here’s my take: I believe you should love your family and friends. This means giving them the freedom to live the way they choose. At the same time, you too have the freedom to make the best choices for your life.

So if you feel they are dragging you down, the best solution for everyone involved is to love them but limit the time you spend with them.

Cutting them off completely is too harsh, but you cannot live your entire life hoping that they will finally approve of you or make a change. What if they don’t? If you care deeply about what you want to do, you need to boldly go ahead and make it happen. That’s the definition of true courage – taking a stand for what you believe in in spite of what people say or think. And as you do this, know that you’re in good company.

Many successful people had to confront overwhelming negativity from family and friends when they first started their venture. But they decided to foray forward in spite – their self-belief and desire to make things happen was too strong to be discouraged by ill-feeling and fears.

I see that as the universe’s way of testing your resolve and seeing how determined you are to make things happen. The good news is once you get past this hurdle, you will get some momentum under your wings.

This is the time to start finding people who believe in you and support what you do.

You will find these people in the least likely of places sometimes. They might have followed your progress for a while, some might reach out from out of the blue, others you meet out of serendipity. Whatever the case, you’ll start to find that there are people who connect with your mission and what you believe in.

Allow these people to guide and support you to bring your vision to light – their energy, enthusiasm and belief in you will give you the strength you greatly need.

The funny thing too is as you start to grow into your best self – the friends and family that so doubted you in the beginning will start to be won over. They too might approach you and say that they were wrong about you. Don’t laugh but, they might very well go from being your chief opposition to your #1 fan. Allow them to – it’s always amazing when friends and family come on board. But regard this whole journey as a test. A test of how badly you want it, a test of resolve and certainty of spirit.

If you come from that space, you will realize that the only approval you need is self-approval.

And as you grow, you start to attract people and events into your life that support you.

The best part?
You can start that process today.
Go forth, and let me know how it goes! 🙂

Visit Yana Fry Coaching page to find out more about Yana’s work. 

_{This post was first published on Yana Fry blog and has been reposted on Executive Lifestyle with the permission of the author.}

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