Set Yourself Up for Success
written by Joel Osteen
March 12 2010
The Bible tells us that Daniel had an excellent spirit. If you study his life, you’ll find that he chose excellent friends. Do you know who he hung out with? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego – the three Hebrew teenagers who refused to bow down to the king’s golden idol. It’s no wonder Daniel was a person of excellence. His friends were people of courage and integrity, people who wouldn’t compromise.

One of the best ways to set yourself up for success is to make sure the people you are choosing to spend time with have qualities that you want. Whether you realize it or not, the people you spend time with are rubbing off on you. Don’t think you can just sit in the lunchroom every day and listen to gossip and people badmouth the company and not be affected by it. Whether you join in or not, that poison is going inside of you. If you stay there long enough, more often than not, you’ll become a gossiper just like them. What’s the solution? Find somewhere else to eat lunch. Sit at a different table. Go outside. Yes, people may talk about you, they may think you’re odd, but you need to just rise above it. You have a destiny to fulfill. You are going places. You have to set yourself up for success by keeping that poison out of your life.

Psychologists tell us there is something called the “law of the group,” which means we associate with people according to the way we see ourselves. Have you ever noticed how, most of the time, people who gossip find other people who gossip? Negative people gravitate toward other negative people. Complainers seem to always find the other complainers. That’s where that saying “birds of a feather flock together” comes from. We find people just like us. Knowing this, I encourage you to evaluate your friendships. If your friends are all negative, tend to compromise, or settle for mediocrity, it’s time to get some new friends. The Bible tells us in Proverbs 13:20 that if you spend time with wise people, you will become wise. In the same way, if you spend time with victorious people, you will become victorious. If you spend time with successful people, you will become successful. So choose your friends carefully so you can set yourself up for success and be equipped to move forward in the destiny God has prepared for you!