Today's episode of Freedom In Five Minutes, I’m going to talk about how listening to your inner circle of friends and family is the fastest way to grow phenomenally.
This is a humble reminder that we are not all-knowing. You will be surprised at the value friends and family can provide by allowing them to take a look at your situation from a different angle and a fresh perspective.
Overview & Episode Content
- Sometimes It’s Good to Just Listen to What Your Inner Circle has to Say
- Value the Advice from Your Inner Circle of Friends
- You Need to Listen in Order to Grow
- Listen and Learn from Your Inner Circle
Sometimes It is Good to Just Listen to What Your Inner Circle has to Say
I was on a call with some of my really close business friends. And this time, I just listened. I just shared my time with them and listened more than anything else.
This is interesting because there are times where I think that I have it all together. And that, to be honest, I believe I have it all worked out and everything.
Usually, I would say, “I have the best way of doing things!” but this morning — I really just listened to my inner circle of friends more than anything.
They were just talking about some of the fun stuff like different diets, how they vacation and have fun, how they work or who they are hiring, and some of their personal troubles lately. This was a humbling reminder for me about the fact that I really do not know so much after all.
Yes, I know all this stuff in business and I'm living the four-hour work month and everything. But after listening to my friends, I realized that they do things way better than I do and that they are really good too! In fact, I felt like I really don't even know what the heck I'm doing sometimes.
Value the Advice from Your Inner Circle of Friends
I got to thinking that maybe I should just sit and listen more. It made me realize something important. Most of us would be intimidated by people who know more than we do — especially about new things — even if they’re close friends. I get it.
This actually happens more when you’re with inner circle friends. Even if we are given really good advice, we brush it off because of who they are.
And for me, I feel like I'm the guy that knows how to work less. I know how to outsource and develop systems.
So, when somebody gives me an idea. I tend to shrug it off because I feel like, “Well, I should be the expert and I should know better than this person. I'm the guy!”
A few days ago, one of my guys held me accountable for creating a webinar, a sales page for that webinar, and the entire copy for it as well.
I kept on saying, “Well, I'm going to do my book. I'm going to edit my book.”
And he said to me, “Okay, that's great. What are you going to do this week? You did that? You said you were going to do that last week. What are you going to do this week?”
I said, “I'm gonna finish my book.”
Then he told me, “Well, that's what you said last week. What are you gonna do this week?”
And I stopped and said, “You son of a monkey.”
He totally called me out — and in a good way, because I did not finish what I said I was going to finish last week. Now, that becomes secondary. My primary goal became making sure that I actually got the webinar up and running.
I could have told him to buzz off because he works more than me or whatever. But he was right. I got more work, yes, but I got more valuable work done than I did the previous week for sure.
You Need to Listen in Order to Grow
As the four-hour work month guy, my initial thought was always, “This is going to be more work.”
I rebelled against the thought because I did not necessarily want to do the work. It was so easy to just sit, edit, and use that as an excuse. I could say, you know, “Screw this guy.”
A lot of people get enamored with the idea of the four-hour work month. Including myself!
When my wife and I went to our marriage counselor one of the things that he told me that really stuck and resonated with me — and it should resonate with a lot of guys — is that in order to keep the house clean, guys tend to be minimalist. We tend to just get rid of everything and make it as easy as possible.
Well, not all the guys obviously, but a good amount of guys want to just do that. And it totally makes sense because this gives us the ability to keep everything neat and clean all the time.
There are fewer upkeep and things to put away but that's not necessarily the best way to do things. Yes, it is an easy way of doing things, but it's not the most beautiful way.
Now, why is this important? Especially with family members, inner circle friends, with spouses… they are able to teach you things about yourself.
These people are able to teach you about things that they know way more easily than you could. If you just listen, they could help you to grow extremely quickly.
Listen and Learn from Your Inner Circle
You know, I must admit that I used to have a hard time listening to my spouse. I used to have a hard time when she would give me her feelings on certain deals and things that I was doing. I realize today that had I listened to her, I would not have wasted four years because I would have grown at a much faster rate.
So this week, I challenge you to listen closely. because that’s one of the biggest lessons I have learned. You have to listen intently to the people surrounding you — to your inner circle.
Do not just say, “Oh yeah. Sounds great.” and not even hearing what the person just said.
Today, if my wife has a really strong feeling about something, I would stop and listen to her. If you do the same with your close circle of friends, family, or your spouse, You are going to see phenomenal results.
If you listen to the people who love you — people who are able to be outside of the whole situation you are in can give you fresh perspectives, and insights from a different angle. And this is key to growing at a rapid rate.
Conclusion
You will be surprised by how knowledgeable our inner circle of friends and family are! You have to constantly remind yourself that there is always room to learn and nobody is capable of knowing everything.
Resources and Links
If you like this episode, go to FreedomInFiveMinutes.com and check out more episodes. Also, if you are looking to hire your next Virtual Systems Architect, visit ProSulum.com for more details.