In Lift part I, I said that we get lift and minimize drag in our life by choosing our relationships wisely and intentionally. Who are
the top five people you spend the most time with (virtually or otherwise)?
It is highly likely that you reflect the attitudes, values, perspectives, behaviors and even mannerisms of these 5 people. Given the influence of the “Top 5” in our lives, we had better be intentional and make it count.

However, if we were limited to only “live” influences, we might quickly stall or be stifled. After all, everyone’s time, resources and accessibility are finite and limited. In addition, those in our current circle of influence may not have what we need or we may need more than they can give. And sometimes, we may just be in one of those seasons when key relationships and influences are limited or non-existent.

I’ve had “dry seasons” when key people just weren’t there for me to learn and grow from….I bet you have too. One dry season I distinctly remember is when I was 10yrs old and living in Taiwan. Few spoke English, we lived on a housing compound, and if you could catch a TV signal only Mandarin was spoken. And there was not such thing as a PC/Mac, iPod or the internet. Now at 51yrs of age I still vividly look back that 2yr stretch and remember it as one of the most rapid and fulfilling growth periods in my life. The SRA reading lab cards, library books (I quickly found myself immersed in Homers Odyssey and other classic literature), along with getting outside my compound walking around observing resulted in a wealth of knowledge and learning that I have always considered transformative. A decade later in a similar dry season I leveraged radio programing along with books and self-study modules to get the Lift I needed.

How about you? Are you getting the lift you need to become who you want to be and get where you want to go? You don’t have to settle and let Drag keep you down, even if you find yourself in a dry season or don’t have a “Top 5” circle of influence right now. It’s almost never about a lack of Lift opportunities or resources. Instead, its about awareness, initiative and being intentional about your growth. What are some solutions? The following 4 categories activities can be excellent sources of Lift in your life and these days just about everyone can access at least one or more:

• Virtual (blogs, podcasts and books)
• Group (conferences, membership sites)
• Peer (group coaching, Mastermind groups, or formal and informal conversations)
• Personal (individual coaching, professional and personal friendships, volunteer activities or paid engagements and mentoring)

Although I classify the above activities as “Lift” because I think it fits better, Michael Hyatt classifies these as “mentoring” (mentoring doesn’t exactly fit, but you get the idea). He does an excellent job of describing these categories more in-depth as well as giving examples of associated specific activities. As usual, Michael goes further and even shares 5 ways to find a mentor.

Which brings me to my next point: How can you and I make the most of these types of resources and do so without being overwhelmed and instead experiencing Drag? After all, we live in the age of information overload and information per se isn’t the real value like it once was. The real value is obtaining relevant, highly selective and often curated information that meets our specific needs and interests; that’s the Juice, that’s the value.

To get it, you have to know:

1. Where to start
2. How to get it
3. How to store it for easy access and retrieval
4. A system for consuming it
5. A seed of discipline that can be grown into a habit for steps 1 – 4 above.

I look forward to discussing each of the five steps above in the next few posts so stay tuned!