A speaker argues that being the smartest person in the room means you're not growing. He learned from Richard Branson, Ivan Misner, and Jack Canfield by listening closely to smarter people, then applying their ideas to his business. He asks: do the last five people you texted actually challenge you, or just comfort you?
If you are the smartest person in every room that you walk into, you're not winning. You're actually shrinking. And I want you to get that. You know, one of the things I have always challenged myself with is to surround myself with people that raise me up, not mess me up. And I look at people every single day. I've been mentored by some of the most amazing people in the world. Sir Richard Branson, Dr. Ivan Misner, one of the founders of BNI, people like, you know, Jack Canfield. And the one thing they've always challenged me on is how to be better. If I walk into a room thinking I know everything, I might as well not into that room. People come to me a lot of time and want my knowledge. But those people, when I sit down with them, I have a very specific website I use, www.zipit.com. I keep quiet, I open my ears, and I listen, because those people give great ideas. Even though I might be resistant to those ideas, I still take them, because maybe 4 or 5 days later, I'll be more open, more receptive, and those ideas become some of the best things I've ever implemented in my business. But when you get challenged, that's when your business grows. That's when you get the results that you're looking for. I'm going to ask you this. Go back to your phone right now and look at the last 5 people you texted and ask yourself, did those 5 people raise me up, add to my life, challenge me? Or are those 5 people just people I've been with for a long time who we have great conversations with, but that don't raise your game?
