I have had this conversation with countless friends, family and even strangers. When I bring this topic up I always get weird looks and its understandable. Our entire lives we have factored being on top as the way to go and being at the bottom was wrong. “You need to be the best this. You have to be number 1 at that.” If you are ever at the bottom then its your fault and it shows laziness. It shows lack of self discipline and effort.

We hear quotes saying that the sky is the limit but the ones that resonate with me the hardest are all the ones talking about hitting rock bottom. Quotes saying that, “Once you hit rock bottom, you have nowhere else to go but up.”, as well as, “Success is how high you bounce back after you’ve hit rock bottom.” and it hit me. It sounds good when read but what are ways to putting it into action rather than just getting up and doing it.

I have realized a simple concept to allow you to naturally grow into the person that you want to be, and that concept is literally being at the bottom of the barrel. I came to that conclusion by looking at the people around me. Looking at what they do. How they act. Where they are in life and where they are going. Then I asked myself what am I gaining from them and is there anything that these people are doing to hold me back.

Many of the people around me were going to the clubs every weekend. Many of them were constantly spending money on outings and putting their bank account in the negative weekly. Many of my friends were distractions. People that would tell me to wait until tomorrow to do what I needed to do. People that guilt trip me into procrastinating or lecturing me about only living once and I noticed that I was doing the same thing. My bank account was in the negative every week. Everything that I needed to do was piling up to the point where I was overwhelmed. I was becoming what the people I was surrounding myself with.

I heard a saying once that said that if you hang out with 4 broke people consistently, you will be the 5th and if you hang out with 4 CEO’s consistently, you will become the 5th. That being said, if you want to make it to the top, you have to be at the bottom of your circle. Being at the bottom will force you to make moves in order for you to do certain things. You are going to want to go on vacations. You are going to want to start the business. You are going to want to have the freedom. You will make specific changes in your life that will move you to the lifestyle that you want.

While observing all of the people around me, I also look at how people are around other people. It seems like the majority of the people I watch wanted to be at the top of their group. Wanted to be the richest. Wanted to be the best looking. Wanted to be the funniest or the strongest and my question is how will that person become better than what they currently are? They are already at the top of their circle and if their friends aren’t growing with them then they are going to be pulling them down.

Don’t take what I am saying out of context. I am not saying to drop everybody once you outgrow them. What I am saying is if you are consistently hanging out with these people, you are going to be doing what they are doing and if they are doing things that are keeping them from going forward, like going out every other day and spending their entire paychecks every weekend, then you will be spending just as much money hanging out with them.

Hang out with people who go to the library and you will eventually pick up a book. Hang out with people who care about their health and you will eventually become more active and have healthier eating habits. Hang out with people who have goals, and you are going to have ambitions yourself.

Introduce yourself to new people. Explore what else is around you. Get out of your comfort zone and surround yourself with people who may be out of your league. Do what they do. Listen to what they listen to. Learn from them and become the person you were suppose to be. Being at the bottom of the barrel will introduce you to new activities, new resources, new information and new growth. Being at the bottom is not always a bad thing. Being at the bottom of the barrel may be the only way for you to go up.