Over the past five years, I’ve been undergoing a process of self-improvement that has enabled me to pivot away from a career I was miserable doing into something I love. If you would have told that when I was fired from my job in the corporate world that I would have my own content marketing company, a column on Inc. Magazine, and close to 200k followers on social media, I’d have told you were nuts.

One of the first things I learned on this journey of self-improvement I’ve been on was I needed to get rid of the losers I was associated with and listening to.

Suffering Many Defeats Does Not Make You a Loser

When you are pursuing success in life and attempting to push the boundaries of what is possible, you will have many failures and setbacks along the way. This is just part of the process and something that you have to deal with in order to achieve your dreams.

I believe losers are people that accept losing as a way of life, and their main purpose in life becomes bringing down others with them. Losers are people that complain about their situation in life but are too lazy to make the necessary changes to improve. They’ve given up on themselves. Instead of being happy when they see others around them experiencing success, they become bitter, jealous, and spiteful.

Not Everyone Will Understand Your Journey

Some people seem to feel threatened by other people’s success. They get jealous easily. They are quick to complain about their circumstances in life but unwilling to do anything about them. So, when they see someone out there who is working extra hard towards a goal in life that they see as being different, their reaction is often to try to make light of that person’s dreams. These people are not winning. They’ve stopped growing.

Losers often seek company and convince others that they too should stop going after their dreams of success.

When you allow losers in your life, they will use this opportunity to bring you down even further. Never allow losers into your inner circle of trusted advisors.

Losers often become a constant negative voice in your ear by telling you that you’re not good enough because they themselves are not good enough.

Not everyone will know why you are so driven. They won’t understand the long hours. They won’t understand your constant quest for knowledge and the opportunity to improve yourself.

I spent years listening to the negative voices in my life, and it limited my potential. Not only the potential in my career but my potential to be truly happy in life.

Surround Yourself With Winners

Once you’ve cut out the losers from your life, the next step is to begin to associate with winners. These are the people who are on a similar journey. Winners add value to your business and enrich your life in many ways.

They help pick you up when you fall flat and give you advice on how to do it better next time because they’ve failed many times and moved forward from it themselves.