The Law Of Association

Why The People Around You Decide Where Your Business Goes Next

The First Leadership Lesson: Parenting

One of the most important jobs a parent has is deciding who their children are allowed to spend time with. Serious parents do not let their kids just “hang out” with anyone. They pay attention. They watch. They listen. They step in when something feels off.

They know what many people forget:
Your child will eventually look like their closest friends in habits, thinking, and results.

High quality friends usually come from high quality homes. They tend to have good habits, a positive attitude, and a desire to improve. Low quality friends often come from low standard environments. They bring bad habits, negative thinking, and a desire to stay comfortable.

Wise parents know this. They do the work. They quietly vet the parents, the home, the attitude, and the direction. If something is wrong, they do not ignore it. They make changes, because they understand the stakes.

They are not just protecting their child’s weekend. They are protecting their child’s future.

The Law Of Association

What is true for kids is true for leaders.

You will rise or fall to the level of the people you spend your time with. Not your intentions. Not your talent. Not your potential. Your associations.

“Show me your 5 closest business friends and I will show you your future income and lifestyle.”

- Tom Mathews

You do not stay the same when you are around people. You slowly start to match them. You pick up their language, their standards, their expectations, and their excuses.

• Sit around people who complain, and you will complain more.
• Sit around people who coast, and you will coast more.
• Sit around people who dream big, execute daily, and tell the truth about results, and you will start doing the same.

This is the law of association. It is not a suggestion. It is a force.

From Parenting To Leadership

Parenting teaches a simple principle:
Guard the environment or lose the result.

As a business leader, you are now the parent of your own future. You are responsible for who is allowed into your mental and emotional “house.”

It is your job to:

• Scrutinize the influences in your life.
• Refuse negative voices that pull you down.
• Intentionally seek out people who live at the level you want to reach.

In WealthWave, that means being brutally honest about who you are really learning from.

“You are not shaped by who you like. You are shaped by who you listen to.”

- Tom Mathews

Are you spending more time with people who are stuck, bitter, or “used to be” successful?
Or are you spending time with leaders who are building, growing, and winning right now?

High Quality Leaders vs. Low Quality Influencers

Just like kids mirror their friends and their friends’ parents, leaders mirror the influencers around them.

High quality leaders you want in your circle:

• Think long term, not just “this month”
• Tell the truth about activity, numbers, and effort
• Read, study, and keep learning
• Embrace technology and new tools
• Encourage others, even while demanding excellence
• Take responsibility when things go wrong

Low quality influencers you must limit or remove:

• Always have a reason, never have a result
• Gossip, criticize, and blame
• Make every change, upgrade, or new tool a problem
• Live off past glory instead of current performance
• Talk big, work small
• Resist coaching, training, or accountability

You do not need to hate anyone. You do not need to argue. You simply need to decide who gets your time and who does not.

“You cannot build a first class business with second class associations.”

- Tom Mathews

Mentors Beat Friends

Friends are nice. Mentors are necessary.

Friends want you to feel good. Mentors want you to grow. That is not the same thing.

In our model, you are surrounded by potential mentors:

• Leaders who have already built what you want
• Teammates who are running higher numbers and building faster
• Trainers who are mastering WealthWaveONE, Videos, Podcasts, FLQ, ShopYourTerm, and our digital tools
• Educators who teach the concepts behind HowMoneyWorks books and TheMoneyBooks series

When you choose to spend time with them, you are choosing your future.

“You are one serious mentoring relationship away from a completely different business.”

- Tom Mathews

The mentorship is here. The real question is: are you fully plugged in?

Your Calendar Tells The Truth

If we took your calendar and your phone log and laid them on the table, what story would they tell?

• Who did you talk to the most in the last 30 days?
• How many high level leaders did you schedule real time with?
• How many events, calls, or trainings did you attend where the room stretched your thinking?
• How much time did you spend with negative people just because it was “comfortable”?

Intentions do not show up on a calendar. Associations do.

“You do not drift into greatness. You schedule it, you show up for it, and you stay around people who demand it from you.”

- Tom Mathews

If your future is important, your environment cannot be random.

WealthWave: The Environment Is Built For You

The good news is you are in a model that is designed around this very principle.

WealthWave gives you:

• A leadership ladder in front of you
• A system of events, trainings, and broadcasts
• A culture of financial education and technology
• Tools that match the quality of any big firm, without the big firm limitations

But none of that works if you stand on the outside looking in.

You have to decide:

• “I will sit with leaders who are already where I want to go.”
• “I will put myself in rooms that challenge me.”
• “I will stay close enough, long enough, for their mindset to become my mindset.”

A Hard Question And A Clear Choice

Here is the hard question:

If your children copied your closest circle of influence today, would you be proud of where it took them?

If the answer makes you uncomfortable, that is your signal. Not to feel guilty, but to make a change.

Start with three simple moves:

1. Identify your top 5 associations.
   Write down the 5 people you spend the most time with in business. Are they pulling you up or holding you in place?
2. Upgrade at least two of them.
   Decide which two higher level leaders you will get closer to over the next 90 days. Book time. Attend everything they do. Listen more than you talk.
3. Limit low quality influence.
   You do not need to cut everyone out. You simply limit their access to your mind, your time, and your emotions. Protect your future like a parent protects a child.

“The greatest act of leadership you can take today might not be what you do. It might be who you stop listening to and who you decide to follow.”

- Tom Mathews

Call To Action: Choose Your Circle, Change Your Future

This business will not wait on anyone. The world is changing. Technology is changing. The industry is growing. Someone will lead. Someone will build the next great team. Someone will own the next 20 years.

The question is whether that someone will be you.

Starting now:

• Audit your associations.
• Move closer to the strongest leaders in WealthWave.
• Plug into every event, training, and mentoring opportunity you can.
• Protect your future like a serious parent protects their child’s environment.

You become who you spend the most time with.
Choose wisely. Act quickly. Stay close to greatness until it becomes your new normal.