Separated To Be Elevated

If you are a Champion (and you are), then you will be promoted to greater and higher realms of leadership. Life has a way of elevating true Champions. Just as cream rises to the top of milk, true Champions rise to the top of companies, projects, and great events. When that happens, old relationships fall away. It can be emotional and difficult, but it’s part of the price of leadership. Champions must be separated from the crowd before they can be elevated into prominence.

I only hang out with Champions. My mastermind team consists wonderful, fired up, success maniacs that are striving to succeed in every area of their life. They support and encourage my “Why” in life, and I support them the same way. But, you know what? Not one of them is someone I knew from my past. Except for my parents and some family, not one of my friends from my old days is around me today. Think about that; I was separated away from the lower levels. That’s not prideful talk. I’m humbled and grateful for the blessings of God which have elevated me. But, I’m telling you that one of the prices that Champions have to pay is being separated from the old gang.

I won’t even try to convince you that this is an easy process. Sometimes it happens naturally after you begin to immerse yourself in positive self-development materials and activities. One day you look around, and you are surrounded by positive, like-minded people. Believe me, negative naysayers don’t want to hang around with someone that is always speaking empowering words or has a positive outlook on life despite the obstacles.
On the other hand, sometimes those friends that are always dragging you down just decide to hang around and try harder to squash your Why in life. What do you do? You have to exercise the gift of goodbye. Explain to those people that you are on a path to success and you cannot allow them to steal your dreams. It’s like a bad apple in a barrel of delicious red apples. That bad apple becomes cankerous and destroys all of the bright, vibrant apples. This is what happens when you allow those so-called friends to continually badger you with their negative nonsense.

I readily admit that I am always ready to embrace goodbye. I only spend time with Champions. Of course, I’ll help someone that is struggling to find success. I am a mentor, and I’m pretty good at spotting the Champions fighting to get out of people. You’ve seen them too; they’re not addicted to negative attitudes and words. They are always searching the horizon in order to spot their future. When they see it, they go for it. I will always have time to help those people. I love them…Champions struggling to be born.

It is not hateful to tell someone goodbye. Rather, it’s faithful. It’s faithful to your own dream and to live the life of a Champion. It’s not a personal thing. You shouldn’t be cruel or dismissive of others, but you have to respond to the call of success. That call will always separate you before it elevates you.

I have seen people elevated while trying to hang on to someone from the old days. If they continue, the old buddy will often trip them up. Not because he’s a bad guy, but because he’s addicted to negativity. It’s like eagles trying to hang out with pigeons. There’s nothing wrong with pigeons, but they will NEVER be eagles. You are an eagle! Fly higher than the pigeons and don’t look down.

If you’re making $50,000 a year, start hanging out with people who make $200,000 a year. Learn their secrets. Ask them to teach you. That’s what “separated to be elevated” means. You make a choice about the kind of influences, the kind of people, the kind of books, the kind of movies and the kind of material that you will allow into your mind.

This is serious stuff. Listen to me. If you were determined to become physically fit and healthy, you wouldn’t continue to hang out with Twinkies, donuts, beer, and Doritos. You would find the gift of goodbye; you would move out of the old nutritional neighborhood. You would allow yourself to be separated from McDonalds and Pizza Hut in order to be elevated to healthy power foods. What if you tried to be healthy, but said, “I can’t leave my old friends – the fries, the cakes, the milk shakes – I can’t forsake them?” How long would your dream of health and physical fitness last? It’s the same thing with success and living as a Champion.

You have a decision to make. Are you going to be a Champion? Are you willing to pay the price? The struggle is vitally important. It does something in you and for you. I’ve never known a Champion who didn’t have to struggle with shaking off the old in order to embrace the new. The number of obstacles that you face in life will lay the foundation for massive growth.
Let me tell you, sometimes between the separated and the elevated, there is a very lonely period. You’ve been separated from your old friends and not yet integrated with lots of Champions. That is a real testing time. I was in my twenties when I made the decision to leave my old friends behind. At that time, I was surrounded by many so-called friends that called me everyday to hang out. It wasn’t until I began my success journey that I finally realized that I was wasting precious time by hanging out with that crowd. I wanted so much more out of life and believed I could achieve it.

Unfortunately, my friends weren’t ready to step out in faith and build a new life for themselves. After a while, I noticed that the phone stopped ringing and I rarely saw any of those people. It was very lonely but I eventually met new friends that believed in me as much as I believed in myself and my Why in life.

If you want to achieve greatness in your life, then you have to make the decision to develop a mastermind team of positive, influential people that are success-driven and believe in you. Have you ever tried to steer a parked car? Not much excitement there. It’s far better to steer a car that’s moving. The power steering is flowing, the tires are moving on the highway, and you can gently and effortlessly glide that vehicle right up onto the road. When you try to steer from a parked, no power, cold-engine spot on the driveway, nothing happens. Success is like that. You will never be able to turn the key in your heart and travel down the road of success without first pulling out of the old, comfortable parking spot of negative associations.

You’re a Champion! Your car is already moving. The fact that you’re reading this article and not a comic book or other time-waster means that your car is moving pretty well. Just keep rolling . . . right on past the slower cars, the older cars and the beat-up pick-ups that have not been maintained. You were destined for higher elevations. It’s time to go for it!