Adam: Let me ask you guys something real quick. Have you ever spent time with somebody and after leaving you just felt completely drained? Not tired from doing something physical, but mental exhaustion. Like your energy just got completely pulled out of you. Well, what most people don't realize is that feeling is not random. It's a signal because the people around you are either giving you energy or they're quietly taking it from you. And over time that has a much bigger impact on your life than you think. So today on a brand new episode of the Pursuit of Progress podcast, I want to talk about the hidden cost of negative people and how they can affect your energy, your standards, your decisions, and ultimately your income and your growth. If you guys haven't noticed yet, my cohost Ben will be with us again next week. He's out this time, but just want to kind of hop on and just give you guys a quick, just really, I think valuable episode just to talk through some of these things that have been on my mind recently, and maybe they've been on yours too. And if so, hopefully this episode will help. So. It's going to jump right into part one, which I call the energy drain. So we're going to start with the most obvious one here, which is energy. You negative people, they don't just say negative things, they create negative environments. And the tricky part is you don't always notice this right away. You know, it shows up in oftentimes kind of small ways like complaining, maybe focusing on problems all the time, pointing out maybe what won't work instead of what will, you always being a pessimist instead of an optimist. And if you're around that consistently, it definitely wears on you because instead of feeling motivated, you start feeling hesitant instead of taking action. Maybe you start second guessing yourself. And I don't know over time that energy drain just really can slow you down. And that's not because you're not capable. It's because your environment is just pulling you the wrong direction. So takes us to what I like to call part two or lowering your standards. And the second cost is ⁓ I oftentimes even more dangerous. because it lowers your standards, because what you're around becomes what you consider normal. If the people around you, you know, cut corners, maybe make excuses, avoid responsibility, settle for less than what they deserve, that slowly also then becomes your baseline. Not intentionally, but just naturally, you know, you start to think, well, this is just kind of how it is. But when you get around people who operate at a higher level, who take ownership, who follow through, who expect more out of themselves, Then you start to realize how much your standards may have actually dropped without even noticing it. So that really is a big shift and that shift can completely change your results. And I think in a way that's also important because that's how your decision making starts to get affected. And that's what the third cost is. And this is how it really impacts your decisions completely the people around you are influencing also how you think. You know, if you're constantly hearing things like, you know, that's risky, that's not a good time right now. I'm in real estate, obviously, hopefully some of you guys maybe are also connected with me because of that. You're starting just to hear all the time, you know, it's a horrible time to buy a house. You know, it's not the right time to sell. You're starting to hear all of these types of thoughts. Well, that's not the whole story. And there's, you know, a path for everybody that's moving in the right direction. So you start to hesitate, you even when something maybe does make sense, you know, even when the opportunity is there, you talk yourself out of it. You wait, you delay, you overthink. And in real estate and business and life, indecision expensive. Let me say that one more time. So it really hits indecision is expensive. they wait around forever. So if you're, you know, your environment is pushing you towards fear instead of action, I look at that as a cost. And most people just really never connect the dots there. So let's just of zoom out here for a second now and talk about the long term cost of all of this income, as well as growth. I think this is where it really starts to matter over time. That's the key part here, guys, is over time, that long term cost. You the people around you, they're going to influence your income, your growth or trajectory because your environment shapes, you know, what you believe is possible, what you think you deserve, what actions you're willing to take. If everyone around you is playing small, it's very to play big. If everyone around you is comfortable, it's very hard to push yourself. But when you're around people who are actually growing, building, taking action, It raises your level as well. And that's when things start to actually change, not overnight, but consistently. So, you know, with all that being said, what do we do about it? How do we actually, you know, take action? What do we actually do with all of this? Well, isn't about cutting people out of your life overnight. That's very to understand. It's really, I think more about awareness at first and intentionality, you start paying attention to how people affect you. Do you feel better after spending time with them or worse? Do you maybe ⁓ feel like they're really helping push you forward or are they holding you in place or even maybe holding you back? then start making those small adjustments. Spend more time with people who elevate you. Limit to constant negativity. Fill the gap with podcasts, books, content that push you guys forward because your environment is always going to be shaping you whether you choose it or not. So you might as well choose it intentionally. We've done a few other episodes in the past about kind of similar topics. And, you know, one of these is one of the best, I think, just self growth, kind of people in the entire industry has been around forever is Jim Rohn. He's actually kind of the guy that Tony Robbins got all of his insight and just his kickstart to the man that he became. A lot of that was from Jim Rohn. Jim Rohn talks a lot about just the five people that you're around the most, and you're going to end up being very similar to that group of people. So kind of take that and apply that as well when we're going through this. another episode that we've also done recently is about the reticular activating system, the RAS. And this is just really relevant here because it talks about with the RAS, a part of your brain that basically starts to recognize specific things and those specific things very, very so could be either positive ⁓ or So an example of this just kind of at a very generic level is, let's just that you have a red Jeep Wrangler or maybe that's the car that you're kind of dreaming to get someday. good luck or more than not, as a better way to put it, when you start driving around, you're going to start to notice every single red Jeep Wrangler driving around. And that's that reticular activating system, basically just being trained to sometimes not even intentionally, subliminally at times but you're going to start to notice. ⁓ those things that red Jeep as an example, but this can also be applied to both optimistic as well as pessimistic thoughts. So the more that you're feeding yourself and your brain with optimism productivity and just a more positive mindset over time, if you're doing this consistently, you're going to start having that reticular activating system focusing on the right stuff. So ⁓ you guys want to kind of dive deeper into the reticular activating system specifically, definitely out that episode. You guys search it in YouTube or on the podcast. You guys can find it and also put a little note in the podcast show notes so you guys can access it there too. But ⁓ just kind of close this one out. And this one was quick, but I want us to kind of end it with this. If one thing that you can take away from all of this is that people around you matter more than you think. They're shaping your energy, your standards and kind in a bigger picture, your future. So just choose wisely. That is the biggest point here. More than anything else. If you're really wanting to get better. find other people that are like-minded, surround yourself with them as much as you can. you don't have those people in your life yet, you know, there's so many opportunities with social media these days, with connecting even virtually with other people. And if you even don't have the ability to do that, then just start with books, content, YouTube, just any way that you can fill your brain with positive and more optimistic type thoughts, that's gonna help that reticular activating system. And more importantly, that's just gonna help your overall wellbeing ⁓ put yourself in a position. to be on the right path to have 2026 continue to be a great year for you guys. if you guys enjoyed this episode, make sure you check out all of our others. We release new ones every single Friday. And if real estate is part of your journey, you know, buying, selling, or investing here in the Denver market, don't forget every single month we do live free Denver home buyer webinars. It's really a masterclass and we really dive a lot deeper than just something generic that maybe you're seeing others doing online. You know, this is something that we really take seriously. We share some of the biggest mistakes that we see other. home buyers making right now in today's market, as well as sharing some strategies that we're currently using with our actual clients to find success and still win in a market that has tended to be quite challenging for most people. And yes, I do see a light at the end of the tunnel, but it might not be quite as soon as we think. So I think this is a great way to really just position yourself in the best way possible on these free Denver home buyer webinars. If you guys want to join and want to get a ticket to the next one, just go to denverwebinar.com and grab a free ticket there. But with all that being said, hope you guys have a great rest of your day, a great rest of your week, and we'll catch you guys next week on a brand new episode of the Pursuit of Progress podcast. We'll see you then. Bye.