Jon Parrish, Former Attorney, served as President and managing partner of a high-end, mid-sized specialty law firm for over 20 years before he retired from asset protection and complex litigation law. Since that time, he has enjoyed success as a partner in a large construction company performing high-end restoration and construction for major hotel chains, high rises and other large coastal properties.
For Jon Parrish, Former Attorney, one of the biggest life lessons that he has learned over the years is to be mindful of who you allow in your inner circle. Many people may appear to be rooting for your success, but you will find a great percentage of those people would rather tear you down than lift themselves up.
And, there may be many reasons for this. After all, the realities of life are often complex and people’s intentions can be subversive. The reasons for double-hearted personalities may be envy, self-centeredness, ego, a lack of empathy, or even reasons the person may not fully understand themselves.
For instance, how many mental health challenges are directly linked back to the way a person was treated during childhood or at critical stages of adult development by evil-intended persons. Whatever the reasons may be, Jon Parrish, Former Attorney, stands by the biggest life lesson he has ever learned:
“Surround yourself with people that care about your well-being, and try very hard to eliminate those people from your life that do not.”
This popular idiom suggests that people will gravitate toward like-minded people. And, while we may be diligent in making sure our children understand who they surround themselves with, we as adults may let our guards down by allowing into our lives those personalities that aren’t in line with our own morals and values.
Adults worry less about pressure, but they should be very concerned about what it says about them and their families when they are constantly in the presence of individuals with dubious characters, bad temperaments, or a questionable psyche.
The last thing Jon Parrish, Former Attorney, suggests is that people judge their friends by their bank account, their occupation, or what kind of toys they have. Positive successful people have gained their wealth and prestige through hard work and good ethics like saving money and investing it well.
The true success of a person can be clearly seen in many ways, including:
Jon Parrish believes that we should be vigilant about whom we allow into our lives, and we should spend energy and time on developing positive successful relationships. And, as one last piece of advice from Jon Parrish, Former Attorney – never be afraid to surround yourself with people who are smarter than you.