Do you realize someone mentors you every single day? My husband and I had a conversation awhile back, and he brought up this issue. We were observing a young woman (let’s call her Sally), who had made some very poor choices in her life. It’s always heartbreaking to watch that, especially when it’s a family member or someone close to you. And too frequently, it involves a lack of maturity or a past filled with poor decisions.

Something flew out of Hans’ mouth during that conversation that was just so profound: “Well, Sally is being mentored by someone who does these same sort of things.”

See, you and I are mentored daily by a number of influences. I want you to think about the different influences in your life… and the quality of those influences!

Some people chose to be mentored by television every day. Now, you have to ask yourself, “What is the fruit in my life from allowing television to mentor me?” You may say, “It’s good… it helps me relax!” NO, it’s not! The fruit could be spending more money because you’re sucked-in by the advertising. Not only that, but you’re allowing the mindset of script writers to pass into you. You are being conditioned to think a certain way about money, marriage, society, violence and life, depending upon the show.

If you listen to the radio, you allow radio show hosts and music to mentor you… those lyrics and words spoken into your ears, feed your mind.

You are also being mentored by your friends, family members and coworkers. When you give your time to someone or something, you give them the power to mentor you and form your mind.

Bottom line, you and I are molded and mentored by someone or something every day… and that can work FOR you, or AGAINST you!

When it comes to the mentoring that happens in your life, your kids’ lives, and your family’s lives, you really have to look at the fruit coming from people you spend time with. Look at what you allow them to speak into your life. What kind of advice do they give you? Because if they don’t have what you want – character and maturity, if they gossip, if they’re jealous, or broke – be careful. Find a different kind of mentor!

Sometimes, the people or things you spend a lot of time with, simply do not benefit your life. They’re not giving you wisdom or building your character, or offering sound financial and marital advice. We can be so easily influenced by the people around us.

So I want to encourage you to look at the fruit in your life and observe the lifestyle, character and priorities of the people mentoring you, so you can determine whether or not you will continue to let them influence you.

Now, back to the situation Hans and I discussed – how sad Sally made such poor decisions, based on the influence of the equally-poor choices of those surrounding her. The primary person mentoring her has a track record of destroying relationships and their physical health, hurting themselves and others, indulging in substance abuse, dishing-out physical abuse and spreading hatred and malice. The kind of influence being poured into Sally causes her to live a lifestyle nobody on this earth would want.

I want you to think about that today. Who are you drawing information and character from? Who are you drawing wisdom from? You WILL become the very person you’re being mentored by… whether it’s a fictional character in a book or movie, or a real person in your life. Pretty scary, if you think about it!

Who you lend your ears to, who you hang out with, who’s your go-to for “venting” (otherwise known as gossiping) and who do you let speak into your life? Do you want to become them? If not, then you may want to stop having that kind of conversation with them. I’m NOT saying don’t talk to them. But just be careful in what you do talk to them about.

If your “mentors” do not have the right kind of character and leadership, they can actually lead you to really bad, hurtful, wrong things, complicating your life and causing you to suffer dire consequences. Not only that, but their advice could lead you in a direction that could actually hurt your business, career and finances, while completely blocking opportunities in your life.

Working with thousands of people worldwide, I’ve watched this happen to so many people. Sadly, it can come from just one bad influence, one bad seed planted by someone whose entire life is filled with disgusting fruit. It just takes one!

Please just let this serve as a friendly warning – be careful who you allow to speak into your life! Be careful who you take advice from. I have watched lives get so messed up, just from following the advice of someone leading them down the wrong path.

Make sure you have good, wise counsel in your life. Look at their character, look at their track record, look at the fruit in their lives, to determine whether or not their advice will lead you into business, financial, career and relationship success.

Have you ever had an experience with bad advice? Have you ever observed a situation like “Sally’s”? I would love to get your input on this topic, so please leave your comments for me on our social media pages.

This is also a very important message to share with your friends and family… just print it out to read and discuss with your family today or even to pass around at work today. And don’t forget to share this link on Facebook and Twitter, as well! Let’s get this message out to the people we care about!

In great faith,

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