“Surround yourself with the dreamers and the doers, the believers and thinkers, but most of all, surround yourself with those who see the greatness within you, even when you don’t see it yourself.” ~Edmund Lee

Here are 7 Quotes and nuggets of wisdom to buttress the need for you to constantly surround yourself with the right people, environment and opportunities.

Greatness can be attained by constantly following others who reflect that which you seek to have. Meditate and Reflect on the following and take ACTION towards a Healthier, Sexier, Wealthier YOU! #BridgingTheIntegrityGap

1.  “Celebrity-worship and hero-worship should not be confused. Yet we confuse them everyday, and by doing so we come dangerously close to depriving ourselves of all real role models. We lose sight of the men and women who do not simply SEEM great because they are famous but are famous because they are great. We come closer and closer to degrading all fame to notoriety. ~ Daniel J. Boorstin

2. “Who and What you stare at and listen to long enough, you begin to look and think like.” ~An old African proverb

3. “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” ~Jim Rohn

4.  “People inspire you or they drain you, pick wisely!” ~Hans F. Hansen~

5. “Create a set of great personal values and surround yourself with the right people that can form your support system. Have an optimistic spirit and develop a strong purpose that you completely believe in and everything you can imagine is possible, for you.” ~Andrew Horton

6. “If you find yourself at the head of the class, you’re in the wrong class. It’s time to find a new class.” ~John Maxwell

7. “No matter how skillful you are, if you are with the wrong team your star will not shine. You’ll only keep struggling but results will be far from you. Quit ‘Camp Losing’ for ‘Camp Winning’. Surround yourself with a bunch of winners and see yourself winning big.” ~Unknown

Here are my thoughts for creating your own ‘environment’:

Have a deep awareness of the environment you’re in, either by choice or by default. Who and What are you surrounding yourself with? Who and What are you constantly watching and listening to, in real life, on the radio, television, internet?

Become more aware of what you allow into your space and what you contribute when you’re in other people’s spaces. Pay attention to all your interactions; meetings, groups, chatrooms, both online and offline. Know when to disconnect and reconnect.

In a fight between you and your environment, chances are your environment often wins! So if your physical universe is strife with corruption, evil and indiscipline, counteract it by reading motivational, inspiring and life-transforming books.

Take little action steps that unplug you from the rot around. Be your own inner light. Lead yourself with integrity and be gentle too. The best time to start is always NOW!

The more you complain and talk about what is NOT right, the more it sucks you in. Stop the blame game, no one ever won it. Look for positive lights in the seeming darkness, seek out other like-minded people who want to make a difference, no matter how small.

FOCUS on what can be and use up your energy to add and create value. Focus on what you want, do not waste your resources on what you do not want. WE create the society of our dreams. Take action on what you know, the path reveals itself with each step. To know better and not do better is an even bigger pain and disservice!

Learn to be a fantastic FOLLOWER. Follow great people, follow happy & joyous people, follow wise people, follow people making a meaningful difference.

Follow healthy people, follow ethical people who are wealth & value-creators, follow people who’re beautiful inside-out, follow successful experts in the fields you’re interested in, follow focused people, follow all that is great and wonderful. Follow people that will challenge, motivate and inspire you to ACTION!

It is a fact that their aura will rub off on you because you BECOME that which you constantly surround yourself with.

DO YOU HAVE A CLEAR VISON FOR YOUR LIFE? Are you moving towards or away from the vision you have for yourself?What do you really want out of life? Are you currently living your dream life, career, business, relationships? You have the power of co-creation and transformation, unlock and use it! Assess and check the crowd you’re presently in. Ask yourself honestly: does this crowd serve your purpose, does it align with your ultimate divine destiny? Adapt a new middle name: ‘FOLLOW-FOLLOW’.

Begin to follow leaders in the different areas you wish to excel in. I do not refer to the blind, ego-stroking, sycophantic, worship of supposedly ‘successful’ but fake people! I mean a beautiful, humble and respectful ‘mentor-mentee’ relationship based on an authentic exchange of values because we are all INTRINSICALLY VALUABLE!

Your environment either shapes you or you adapt to it. Very few people have succeeded in shaping their environments. So be careful of what and who you are allowing into your space.

Learn from mentors and role models around you, adapt their principles, strategies and and apply them in your life. Yes, it is possible, you can CHOOSE to follow your way to GREATNESS.

First, seek intellectual knowledge and then, second, experiential knowledge (wisdom) by simply taking focused, consistent and aligned ACTION steps! (In the conjugation of life’s verbs, ‘TO DO’ is always more powerful than ‘to say’.

In the words of Tony Robbins: “You simply become who you spend time with. The quality of your life is proportional to the quality of your relationships.” Therefore, it is important to model other people who are already exemplary in different aspects of their behaviours, habits, characters etc.

Add these to your ‘TO DO’ list this week:

1. Identify and write down 3 key areas you wish to grow and develop in (They may be in your professional/personal life);

2. Identify 3 role models/mentors who are at the top of their game in these areas;

3. Follow them! Join their mailing lists, sign up for their webinars, seminars, workshops, events etc.

4. Each week, apply at least one learning from mentors/coaches to your life;

5. Keep on practicing what you’ve learned until it becomes a part of your neurology i.e. you cannot help but just do it!

6. Teach what you’ve learned to others (or at least one person). When we teach, we re-install all the learnings and consolidate them in our lives. So share everything you know with as much people as you can!

7. Celebrate your journey, and rejoice over every single milestone. Reflect, reassess and revamp the process and keep the learning window always open. There is always more….make room in your heart, mind, spirit and soul to keep learning, growing and evolving. When we stop growing, we are dead! *Note that as you grow and transform, your list of role models also evolves.

In the words of Jim Rohn: ‘The greatest room in the world is the room for self improvement.”

Send us an email (wholewomannetworkinc@gmail.com or info@wholewomannetwork.com), with your top 3 most important role models/mentors. As always, WWN will give away 3 motivational/inspirational books at the end of the month to three lucky participants.

(Our 3 picks are: Brene Brown’s ‘Gift of Imperfection’, Malcolm Gladwell’s David and Goliath’, and Paulo Coelho’s ‘Manuscript found in Accra’). Remember, life is a wonderful game and a wonderful daring adventure, it all depends on HOW you choose to look at it! Dare to play at 100% or NOT at all! Have fun and Good luck. Enjoy your journey to greatness!!!

Bloggers Note. From a grateful heart, with love:  I am thankful for the following Heroes and SHEroes who have shaped and continue to shape the person I was yesterday, who I am now and who I’m becoming tomorrow. Some have passed away, some I have met in person and others have become close friends and invaluable close-knit family of cyber-mentors/coaches.

My loving husband and amazing children, my ancestors, my mom, Bridget Ume, My dad, Cyprian Ume(RIP), Kate Okoro, all my ‘sister-friends’ (you all know yourselves…), my siblings and family, my wonderful in-laws, Jean N. Pere.

And others such as Marie Forleo, Mary Okobi (RIP), Tony Robbins, Crystal Andrus, Ali Brown, Oby Ezekwesili, Chimamanda Adichie, Maxamed Ibraahin Warsame Hadraawi, Sufi, King David :-), Connie Podesta, Kathy Ireland, Eugenia Abu, Les Brown, Sandi Krakowski, Lisa Sasevich, Uche Eze, Jerry Roberts, Jordan Adler, Cody Bateman.

Others include: Hilary Clinton, Maya Angelou, Oprah Winfrey, Iyanla Vanzant, Brene Brown, Leke Alder, Funmi Iyanda, Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, Marianne Williamson, Pope John Paul II (RIP), T. Harv Eker, Suze Orman, Gail Vaz-Oxlade, Bimbo Odukoya (RIP), Funmi Ransome-Kuti, Nina Jean, Nana Asma’u, Margaret Ekpo, Joyce Meyer, Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo, The Bridge family….(and so many cool people I got to meet via social media).

I am grateful to the human potential, leadership, coaching and private wealth management professional communities. In particular, I am especially thankful to the thousands of people, from so many different countries, with whom I connect through social media, face-to-face, via email or telephone. Thank you for taking up the courage to live your best lives NOW, with purpose, passion and power!

And a huge thank you to those that I have never met in person, who unfailingly, send in their heartfelt testimonials/stories and are always so willing and happy to share their hearts and thus, make a difference in the lives of others! You honour me with your presence. We are all connected, and we all share a common humanity. Thank you for holding sacred space for the rest of us.

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