Key To Success: Guilt By Association & Wealth By It Too!
Copyright 2005 Rasheed Ali
"Tell me what company thou keepst, and I'll tell thee what thou
art." - Miguel de Cervantes (1547 - 1616) Spanish novelist.
Growing up I often heard my best friend's father Nick say
something that I would later realize was a key to success. He
said, "Show me who your friends are and I'll tell you what you
are!"
Well, that was usually followed by a long speech about why his
son Frank should not have hung out with certain people.
I was like a second son to Nick so I would get to listen in on
Frank getting yelled at. By that time, I had already been
homeless and off the streets and working my way through High
School, so I never thought of hanging out with the types that
Frank did. Of course I was no angel but, I chose my friends as
carefully as I could.
Frank never got the point back then, but Nick knew very well
about the power of association.
You see Nick, grew up the only son of an entrepreneur and
brother to six sisters. Since he was the baby boy, he got a lot
of attention and love from his father. Although all of the
children did, Nick got just a little more.
Nick's father the owner of a motel and a construction company
could rival the strength and attitude of the strongest of the
strongmen of his day and even ours. He grew up with the same
mentality of his father AND the strength to boot!
The problem with Nick was that he associated with the street
gangs of his day and didn't listen to his father when he gave
him the same speech, "Show me who your friends are and I'll tell
you what you are!"
Associating with the wrong people didn't end there though, later
in life he ended up associating himself with the some of the
most ruthless mobsters around and as time went on, Nick gained
both the wealth and the bad habits these guys had.
Finally, the days came when his acquired gambling addiction took
all of the wealth away. Although he could have lost his life
many times, it took the loss of his money to finally stop
associating himself with these people.
"Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your
own reputation; for 'tis better to be alone than in bad
company." - George Washington (1732 - 1799) US Statesman
Although Nick didn't follow the above advice, he is still a good
man and still does great things. After all he took me off the
streets, gave me a home and taught me lessons from his past
which also became my key to success.
Like Nick, many people don't realize that wealth by association
works the same as guilt.
When asked how he intends on being America's first black
billionaire, Don King said, "By hanging around other
billionaires!"
The truth of the matter is that whether you want to learn
something significant or learn to be more successful, the people
you associate with are the probably going to be one of the major
keys to your success. I'm sure you've heard countless stories
about those "lucky" people who gained wealth and success through
others who were more successful at the time. I've personally
heard and learned about many such stories.
Association is one of the reasons that many people pay big bucks
to be mentored by very successful people.
The "Key" reason people do this is: In order to get what you
want or learn what you want you must go to the source.
Find a personal or business mentor or coach and learn everything
you can from them then apply it.
The other part of your key to success by association is that you
will generally attain the average success and/or wealth of your
10 closest friends. The reason for this is that by associating
with people who are more successful or wealthier, you are then
able to tap into their intellectual, spiritual or financial
resources.
That my friend, is an enormously critical success factor. To see
an example of this, look at marketing online or offline. You
will see that people and businesses often associate themselves
with each other (one being more successful than the other) to
build both credibility and wealth.
Apply the Success By Association Principle to your business and
life, then buckle up for the ride! It WILL be your key to
success.