Wealthy, successful people are very particular about who they associate with.
Their goal is to develop relationships with other success-minded individuals. When they stumble onto someone who fits the bill, they then devote an enormous amount of their time and energy into building a strong relationship. Their objective is to grow the relationship from a sapling into a redwood. Relationships lay the foundation for long-term success.
One of the strategies I uncovered in my five-year study of the daily habits of the rich and poor (see the methodology here) involves how the successful turn these relationship saplings into redwoods, and I'm going to share it with you.
How The Wealthy Forge Powerful Relationships
Successful, wealthy individuals, in my study, dedicated a portion of each day to improving the life of one of their valued relationships. They isolated time every day to help the relationship achieve their goals, improve their careers, or grow their business.
Thirty minutes a day was all it took to transform ordinary relationships into devotees. But what's interesting is what happened after this relationship investment. Those relationships the rich invested in eventually began to reciprocate. They became fanatical cheerleaders, valuable salespeople, and a source of frequent business referrals.
They reciprocated by opening doors for more business, bending over backwards to return the favor. It's what's called The Law of Reciprocity. And successful people use this strategy every day to grow their business and wealth.
Here's an example: One of your new entrepreneur relationships starts a new business. They need customers. You devote part of one day, each week, reaching out to your circle to help promote the entrepreneur. You add value to their business. Over time, your new relationship's business grows. This entrepreneur relationship eventually reaches out to their circle, referring their own contacts to you.
The objective of this strategy is to focus intently on improving just one of your relationships each day. It's like putting your relationship on steroids. The roots to that relationship tree will grow very deep and elevate it to another level.
If you do this week in and week out, by the end of the year you will have grown 52 of your relationships, and they, in turn, will reciprocate, growing your business.
It's simple, but it works!