The Three Qualities You Absolutely Need In Your Tribe
“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” — Jim Rohn
There’s no question your social circle has a big influence on both your success and failure.
Want to know your net worth in the next five years? Just take a good look at how your network is making their money.
Want to know if you’ll stay in shape in the next couple of months? See what health habits your closest friends practice.
When it comes to building your social circle, you need to treat it like building your dream home.
You need a solid foundation before you can even think about putting the roof, siding, or designing the kitchen. If your foundation is made of brick, it won’t stand a chance against even a minor earthquake.
But what about steel-reinforced concrete? Now we’re talking.
Here’s what qualities you need to look out for when building your tribe from the ground up.
Loyalty Over Royalty
The inevitable lows of life are bound to hit. Bankruptcy for some. For 50% of America, divorce. Lay-offs. Death.
The real question is not if this will happen, but who will be there for you when the shit really hits the fan.
Unfortunately, the only true way to build loyalty with your tribe is to go through some type of hardship.
It’s this same exact reason why many of the closest friendships and brotherhood are made during the military. You are literally put in life or death situations with a group of strangers. If you’re loyal to one another you live. If not, you die.
You need to create this similar type of loyalty with your tribe. The return will be infinite. When you look back, the trust you create amongst one another will allow you to open up any business, start any venture, or tackle any fitness goal you may have. The world is yours.
Integrity
Integrity: The Act of Being Honest & Having Strong Moral Principles; Moral Uprightness. — Oxford Dictionary
My first real-world experience of the value of integrity was during my real estate apprenticeship when I was 19.
My mentor at the time had recently broken up a partnership he had going in real estate for over five years. At the time I was the only sales rep for the company and was caught in the middle of this transition. It was a high growth startup, but things were getting pretty shaky because of the change in management moving forward. The company was in a sink or swim position.
During those times, we ended up creating the core values and what principles the company would be driven by.
Our main core value for the company was integrity.
To this day, I still have this core principle in everything I do. From my work life to the home and family.
Keeping your word, doing the right thing, and accountability are all attributes that easily translate into leadership and life.
These are all qualities that you can read about and become aware of, but to truly acquire the asset of integrity, you need to live it, breathe it, and become it through life experience.
A good way to examine your integrity or anyone in your social circle is to ask this simple question:
If no ones looking & there were absolutely no repercussions if you did this, would you steal money from the bank?
Empathy
“I think we all have empathy. We may not have enough courage to display it.” — Maya Angelou
Many people confuse sympathy and empathy.
Sympathy is seeing your sister sick and throwing up. You have so much sympathy, that you begin throwing up with her. Empathy is bringing your sister the Tylenol and Advil she needs and taking care of her.
When looking for your ride or die tribe, it’s important that everyone in your group has empathy for one another.
You need people that will bring you the Tylenol when you’re hungover. Or help you understand your problems and how to fix them. It seems simple, but it's hard to find the right people who are willing to share their time like this and bring you up during your worst moments.
Tough times don’t last, tough people, do.
When building your tribe, money, intelligence, or upbringing should be second when it comes to these three qualities. Your ability to handle these rough patches is predicated on your tribe’s loyalty, integrity, and ability to empathize.
Go conquer the world! Share this message with your ride or dies.
