About Friendships and Harmful Acquaintances

Do not involve envious friends in your business transactions. They will value money over and above the relationship. Don't give out your contacts and information to everybody. Your contacts and information constitutes part of your social capital and must not be made available to persons of questionable character. Don't spend useful time chatting with people below your social status. They may never appreciate your time and energy. Always draw the line between family and business. Do not discuss your wife or husband with friends or relatives. They will certainly give out all your information. Seek professional advice in solving personal issues you cannot handle.Relate more frequently with people who inspire you, people you can learn from. Don't share your dreams and aspiration with every tom, dick and harry. They may conspire to crash your dreams.  Avoid over familiarity with friends. Don't  trust friends with confidential documents. They may print copies to implicate you in future. Not every place is worth going to if you are going somewhere. Friends and relatives easily get spoilt and jealous. Most people flocking around you are there for what they can get. Don't feel loved when they come at you.A hustler cannot mentor a hustler. Listen attentively to what friends say and how they say it especially when they are angry. Be careful when taking friends to your source of 'water'. They may take over the source and out source you and poison the water. Mind your business, focus on your set goals. The friends you assist will pull you down so don't carry anybody's burden on your head. You can't carry everybody along. You are not the messiah, you can't save or please everybody.  Never engage or argue with persons who are bent on ruining your reputation. Friends will tell a lot of lies to bring you down to their level once you manifest signs of growth.Beware of friends and relatives who display this sense of entitlement and would force themselves on your resources. Giving is not by force. Give out of conviction. If you don't always feel right among some persons or groups of persons, please follow your instinct. Walk away from them. Change your unambitious and non growing friends because sooner or later, they will begin to envy and hate on your progress. Not everyone wants to see you succeed. The poor is eternally angry with the rich. They both need each other but can they really be friends? The answer is yes and no depending on your ability to fuel or water the fire of jealousy. Keep your modest achievements to yourself. Telling too many stories of success will trigger co-ordinated attacks from your so called friends.As John Maxwell rightly said:" If you want to be a growing person, you need to spend time with growing people...your friends will either stretch your vision or choke your dreams. Some will inspire you to greater heights. Others will want you to join them on the couch of life where they do their least. Because not everyone wants to see you succeed, you have to make a choice. Are you going to let the people who aren't growing bring you down? Or are you going to move on?"undefined