Sometimes you have to give someone the pink slip in life.
For those of you who don’t know what a pink slip is, it is a past reference to how people used to be removed from a job. Or in other words, fired.
This post is not about firing an employee, its about making sure you allow the right people to be in your circle of influence. INFLUENCE on you that is. You are a winner. A person who is striving to accomplish something in life. A person who is focused on making a positive imprint in the world.
Anyone who is not FOR you is automatically against you. Even if it is subtle.
“We are obligated to limit or remove the undue influences of those who are having the wrong effect on us. Otherwise we risk losing our own vision due to the pessimism of those who do not share our desire to experience more of the good life.”-Jim Rohn
The key word here is obligated. I love that he used this word. And I take it to heart. There is a lot of negative in the world. Its being thrown at us all the time from everywhere we can turn. It is crucial that we are purposeful in filling ourselves up with positive messages and people. Anyone who attempts to tear you down, in any way, you are obligated to remove them, and if that is not possible, limit your exposure to them.
I do not spend time with negative people on purpose. I do not spend time with disrespectful people. I will go to great lengths to protect my attitude and outlook, because my attitude and outlook affects everyone I am consistently involved with…and so does yours. It’s doubly important for me because I am a very sensitive person, so my feelings are easily hurt. Regardless of my logic or seasoning. So I limit my purposeful associations to positive, growing, caring, encouraging, respectful people….or people who are trying to become that way.
This is true for all corners of my life. For example, I have a number of friends on Facebook. Many I really don’t know. If you friend request me and we have a mutual friend, I will check you out and then if I see no red flags, accept. If I see posts that are negative coming from this person, I will then delete them. If I see comments that are negative or disrespectful, I will delete them. I take this seriously. I recently posted a picture of a very big fish I caught. It was the biggest one of the particular breed I had ever caught in my 47 years (been fishing since I was 7) of fishing. Most of my friends were happy for me. Because they know how much I love to fish. One man, who I don’t really know, made a very disrespectful statement because he is a vegan and doesn’t agree with harming anything in nature. I have many vegan friends. None of which besides this man, made a derogative statement, and several of which liked the fact that I had a good experience because they care about me and respect my choices just like I respect theirs even if I don’t live the same way. I immediately deleted this man. Wrong heart for my associations.
Make sure the people you associate with are respectful, encouraging, positive, caring, and growing. Or at least trying to become that way. Otherwise, you are obligated to remove them from the ability to have any influence on you.
