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Have you heard the saying that the top five people you spend the most time with are the indicators of your own future success?

 Look around at the people you spend the most time with…are they as successful as you want to be or as successful as you are now?

Look at it this way – the people you hang out with the most are influencing you – you’re absorbing their thoughts and their ways of thinking. Will it take you and your business where you want to go – the places you dream about? Is it enough, or do you need to re-think your influencers?

Fresh Information Equals Growth

I wrote a post not long ago about the importance of continual learning, and how investigating new information can help you grow as a person and help grow your business.

This new information is coming from all angles – books, e-newsletters, meetings, blog posts, phone conversations, Mastermind sessions, webinars, teleseminars, and any number of other channels – and behind each of those channels is an individual.

Who influences you the most?

Is it friends? Family members? Do you have e-Mentors or in-person mentors?

I recently read a blog post in which the writer suggested that a peek into one’s inbox would reveal who our top five influencers were. Definitely a very good suggestion! I’ve been looking at my email box ever since and realizing that one, I’m following a few too many people; and two, many of the people I follow need to be eliminated.

Why?

They no longer serve as valuable mentors and influencers. You see, over the course of my business thus far, I’ve signed up for information from many people. At the time I signed up, they answered questions for me, gave me new ways of thinking about my business growth and – in general – helped me with issues I had encountered.

What I’ve continued to do is gain more mentors – both in person and e-mentors. What I haven’t done is release myself from the influencers I’ve grown beyond. While I’ll be forever grateful for each of those mentors along the way, it’s critical that I keep developing.

I find that the key influencers in my business’s success and growth are always changing. As the needs of my business change and evolve, different e-Mentors vie for my bandwidth. We all need to remember that we might be comfortable with someone, but there may come time when we’ll outgrow them.

As you look through your inbox for your own top five influencers, here are some things to think about.

  1. Know Your Business and What it Needs

Understanding what matters at any given stage of your business means always having a snapshot of where you are and what your challenges are. Whether it’s growing big enough to necessitate revolving lines of credit or deciding how much of a marketing budget to allocate to social media (hint: think at least 10% for traditional brick and mortar businesses, and up to 80% or more for various technology endeavors), it’s critical to recognize not just where you are – but also what you need to grow.

  1. Where Do You Want Your Business to Go?

Now that you’ve familiarized yourself with where your business is and what it needs to continue to be (or become, in the short term) successful, consider where it is you want it to go.

If your typical client spends $100 monthly with you, is it possible to raise that to $1,000 by targeting a different audience? Pick a few of your e-Mentors based where you want your business to be in 1, 2 or 5 years.< strong>

  1. Your Values Matter

The entire point of a business mentor – whether in your email inbox or through a more formal arrangement – is to help you build your business. Their values and beliefs need to align with yours in order for you to achieve the maximum value possible from them. So take your e-Mentors for a test drive.

Remember: understand your business, think about where you want it go, and make sure your potential mentor’s values and beliefs line up with your own. Above all, make sure your mentors are always relevant to where you are going.

How many mentor voices do you have in your head?