Questions of Influence

Whenever I start to lose sight of my dreams or let the negative people in my life affect me I read this article. I hope it blesses you as much as it has me. plk


Kingdom Quotes: A Weekly Teaching by Dr. Myles Munroe - BFMI
originally published March 6th, 2004


Questions of Influence

The law of association states that you become like those with whom you spend time. We often underestimate others’ influence in our lives. There are two words that most accurately describe influence: powerful and subtle. Often, you don’t know you’re being influenced until it is too late. Whether you realize it or not,however, the influence of those you spend time with has a powerful effect on how you will end up in life, on whether you will succeed or fail.

What we call peer pressure is simply this: people with whom we associate exercising their influence on us, trying to direct our lives in the way they want them to go. We should stop telling young people that they alone have peer pressure. Adults have it too. They find it hard to disregard other people’s opinions. There are people who are sixty, seventy, and eighty years old who give in to peer pressure; almost everyone is affected by it.

You must be careful whom you allow to influence you because your vision will be either encouraged or destroyed by others. There are two kinds of people in this world: those who are with you and those who are against you. I have learned that people have the potential to create your environment. Your environment then determines your mind-set, and your mind-set determines your future.

Therefore, you must choose your friends wisely, selecting those who are with you and not against you. You should generally choose friends who are going in the same direction you are and who want to obtain the same things you do, so you can reinforce one another. In light of this truth, I want you to ask yourself three questions.

First, “With whom am I spending time?” Who are your closest friends; who are the people you are confiding in?

Second, “What are those people doing to me?”

In other words, what do they have you listening to, reading, thinking, doing?

What do they have you settling for?

Most important, what is being around these people causing you to become?

For example, if you associate with people who spend more money than they make, the chances are high that you also will spend more than you make.

Third, ask yourself, “Is what other people are doing to me a good thing in relation to my vision?”

When you start telling people where you’re going to go and what you’re going to do, they may (even unconsciously) begin to say things to try to hinder your dream.

You need to ask and answer these three questions for yourself truthfully–and regularly– as you progress toward your vision.


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