At one point in the conference, Craig was chatting with Larry Broughton (Larry is hosting an entrepreneur conference in the fall) about entrepreneurship, and they shared a quote that, I believe, Dale Earnhardt said: “Don’t have a five-minute person in a five-year role.”
Basically, that means you don’t want to spend all your time with people that you don’t need to be spending a lot of time with. There are people in your life that you just say “Hi” to and that is that. And then there are people you spend the most of your time with. These people need to be your supporters and cheerleaders, while still having the confidence to call you on your stuff when they see it.
A while back, I heard Ray Bradbury talk and he suggested that you fire the people in your life who don’t fill that supportive cheer-leading call-you-on-your-stuff role. What Earnhardt is suggesting is that you don’t necessarily need to eradicate those folks from your life, just limit how much time you spend with them.
I think that’s very good advice. Sometimes you have people in your life that you don’t want to let go of … maybe they are family, maybe they are childhood friends … but you don’t want them holding you back either. Recognize them for what they are … five-minute role fillers, not five-year role fillers.
Action Item:
Take a look at the people in your life and categorize them. Are they 5-minute people or 5-year people. Then start relegating the time you spend with them accordingly.
I know, in writing that sounds kind of harsh. But sometimes you need to prune the vine in order for it to grow. Sometimes you need to be disciplined and “harsh” if you are going to be successful in your entrepreneurial life.
Hi! Great post and insight. The quote about not letting 5-minute people play a 5-year role in your life that I was referring to at Craig’s event, was actually from Darren Hardy, the publisher of SUCCESS Magazine. All the best, Larry