Pool Guests

Pool Guests

Week 1 we drained and scrubbed the pool clean.
 
Week 2 we filled the pool with fresh clean water.
 
Week 3 we get to enjoy the fruits of our labor.  Not so fast!  Who we invite to our pool matters.
 
“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” - Jim Rohn

So now you need to ask yourself, “who is getting invited to the pool, and who needs to leave?”

The answer to this becomes easy if you ask yourself another simple question,“Who do I want to be like?”  Is it Tony, your long-time high school friend who always comes over uninvited, leaves his used towels everywhere, and complains about how bad he’s got it the whole time?  Or is it more likeSteve who lives down the street.  You always see him taking walks with his entire family, doing crazy workouts in his driveway, and every time you talk, he doesn’t ask how you are, but simply starts the conversation by proclaiming what a beautiful day it is. 

I choose Steve!  We need to surround ourselves with the people whom we want to become, the ones who challenge us to be better than we are, and the ones who will call us out on our bullshit. 

“The person that challenges you and holds you accountable loves you more than the person that watches you stay the same and settle for mediocrity.” – Unknown

Now comes the hard part.  If you ask Steve to come over, you are going to need Tony’s pool chair, so you’re going to have to ask Tony to leave. This can be hard, because Tony isn’t always just our friend.  SometimesTony is co-worker who we see all the time, but now need to distance ourselves from.  Sometimes Tony is a close relative, who we still love, but cannot allow to drag us under their Eeyore rain cloud every time we talk.  Here’s the thing, as hard as this may be, if we’re honest, we know Tony pees in the pool and checks out our wife every chance he gets.  He’s got to go!
Now look what just happened!  With Tony gone, Steve comes over, brings his own pool chair, notices Tony’s empty old chair and asks if he can invite his buddy Karl over.  You say “yes” Karl comes over and check this shit out!  Karl runs triathlons, you’ve been telling yourself for years that you want to get into triathlons.  You start spending more time with Karl and before you know it, you’re training for you first race.  During your training, you lose 10 pounds, gain a shit-ton of confidence, your boss notices and gives you the promotion, your significant other notices and starts giving you promotions all the time, and through Steve and Karl, you meet Jim, Susan, and Karen, all people who push you to be better in some way.  All this, just by kicking Tony out and inviting the right people to your pool. 

Book recommendation on this subject:  Living with a Seal – Jesse Itzler

Who are your pool guests?
 
P.S. – I promise this is the last article about pools

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