The Power of Association
Achievers Digest: Issue #9, April 19, 2021
By Nick Imoru
“You will be the same person within the next five years except for two things: The friends you make and the books you read”
Do you know that you will remain who you are within the next two to five years, even more, except two indispensable facts occur to you? These are the friends you keep and the books that come your way. If I lock you up in a room for one year and cut your access to people and information; no means of communication, No radio or even television, but there is a constant supply of the food you need. At the end of the one-year, you will and can never remain the same. May I say that you will even depreciate. This is because you are what you are today by the information you had access to; this is to say, the people that came your way and the books you have read all these years. Friends! This is why this e-digest is very essential. There is power in your association.
Hear this:
“You need some people in your life who see what you don't see, hear what you don't hear, and know what you don't know”.
There is no single genius that is an island! Somehow, every genius is a function of influence! The great genius, Michael Faraday, who discovered electricity, was the laboratory attendant to Sir Humphrey Davies, a giant in the world of science. Association made him! There are things you cannot see, hear or know that you need, but are in some other people. May I announce to you that;
“There is something God has for you in someone else”.
So, do not despise the effect and power of association. In as much as the effects of association are powerful, great care must be taken in this regard. Everybody must not be your friend! You must not enter just any association.
FRIENDSHIP BY CHOICE
A wise man said:
“I cannot give you the formula for success but I can give you the formula for failure, which is: try to please everybody”. - Herbert Bayard Swope
There is one guaranteed formula for failure and that is to try to please everyone. If you must become the world’s greatest, you get to watch your association. Anybody cannot just come to your life and be your friend! You need to understand that:
“Friendship is never by force, it's by choice”.
You are to choose whom to follow! Nobody should force any friendship on you. Friendship is all about impact! If your current association is not influencing you positively, you have to quit. May I say to you, that no single association leaves you the same.
“Your association will either make you or mar you”.
The choice is yours! You can never remain the same. You are either 'made' or you are 'unmade' by your association. Any association that is not adding to you is subtracting from you. Who is your friend? Your friend is a person who wants you for who you are, not for what you are!
As a student, you need the right association. Your friends should be the best students in your class or field of study. Stop hovering around that your friend! May I let you know that the reason you are performing poorly every term or semester is because of that your association! Check it! Your friend is the same as you or even virtually worst! Change your association! Then watch out the difference! You can never be greater than your association. A wise man said:
“Show me your friend and I will tell you who you are, and where you will end up in life”.
Somebody asks for your hand in friendship, and you know that he or she cannot add to you, Say No! Why? Just like that! Ah! Hear me! Friendship is not by force, but by choice. You've got to choose your friends! Don't stay in a relationship that feeds your weaknesses.
I personally have a policy on friendship. Everybody in my life cannot be my friend! I do believe that friendship is supposed to be for impact. Therefore, I watch every association I make. Once I discover that I am not influencing you and you are neither, I quit that relationship. Please, I implore you to let that be your policy.
THE PUPPY AND THE LITTLE GOAT
I give you a true-life story: an elderly man in Living Faith Church, Maiduguri (capital city of Borno state in Nigeria) brought a puppy and a little goat home together on the same day. As they both grew bigger, anytime this man arrived home, the dog and the goat ran to welcome him. But this elderly man discovered that the goat always wagged its tail like the dog. What an association! As you know, goats are not supposed to wag their tails, but because they both lived and grew up in the same compound, the dog influenced the goat. Friends! This is the effect and power of association. Never think that your association is not having any impact on you! That is very untrue! Watch it closely! Very soon the impact will begin to surface. In fact, if it doesn't show today, it will definitely show tomorrow. Therefore,
“It is better to be alone than in the wrong company”.
It is a price you've got to pay! Take the pain of discontinuing that unproductive and non-impact association of yours! Do it now before it mars your future!
“Your friends will stretch your vision or choke your dream”.
Your dreams are very important to you in becoming the world’s greatest. Do not allow your dreams to be choked! The best way to stop that friendship is to stop, no matter what you are benefiting from that association materially. Your future is much more worth than these! Stop investing your time on that friendship. Block every single chance of contact! Let it be that:
“With some people you spend an evening; with others you invest it”.
Your future is bright! You will get there! God is on your side!
Key Takeaway:
1. No single association leaves you the same.
2. You can never be greater than your association.
3. Friendship is not by force, but by choice.
4. Don't stay in a relationship that feeds your weaknesses.
Thank you for taking out time to read through this topic and I hope this edition of Achievers Digest inspire you on your journey to greater success. See you next time. God bless you and keep you safe.
Dedicated to your mega success,
Nick Imoru
President,
Achievers Centre
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