Yup Joe's and Joette's this is a post about the old saying. This post was inspired by an audio I was listening to by Jim Rohn. So get ready to learn from this old saying.

   So for the few of you who don't know what saying I am referring to here, it is: "One bad apple can ruin the whole bunch." Before you go and Google it to see if it's true, I already did that. It's 100% true the one apple can ruin a barrel of good apples. These sayings are very old yet they still apply in modern times. This saying, in particular, has a much deeper meaning than people think. Can you guess what it is?

   It's been about three seconds so let me tell you the real meaning of this saying. A bad influence in your life can ruin your life. That's a harsh meaning but it's as true as the science behind the barrel turning bad. The bad influence doesn't have to be something as radical as a person telling you to rob a bank. It could be someone close who always asks why instead of why not. For new readers that know all of the terminologies I use, Why people are negative people and Why Nots are positive people. Having a negative influence in your life may not seem like a problem. Sure you can ignore them for a while but they are always there nipping at your ankles. Each time you have an issue or don't achieve the results you are expecting they show up. They are right there ready to remind you that they were right and you were wrong. They will advise you to listen to their advice. After a while, you will start to believe them and then they have you. Their hooks are in and it's hard to get them out. It sounds like I'm an expert and it's because I've experienced this.

   Like I always say I'm just like you guys an Average Joe. I've had a couple of bad apples that tried to ruin me and they succeeded at times. When I became a vegetarian for a year the Why people tried their best to tempt me but I was able to make it through. When I was trying to save money to move to Japan I got ruined by them. My willpower wasn't strong enough to turn down a night out. They said I never hung out with them anymore. I wasn't their friend because I wasn't spending time with them. I believed then and I told myself that one night out wouldn't hurt. I was wrong because that one night out turned into going out almost every night. It's alright because I felt bad that I treated my "friends" badly that I always paid the bill. I never made into Japan.

   If that story sounds bad then strap in because it's going to get worse. There was one bad apple that truly tried to ruin me. I'm not going to go into the specifics but I will give you a synopsis of what happened. I was let go of my job of five years because of this person. This same person ruined a trip to Miami with their complaining and not wanting to eat different things. Then we worked together for a new company and I spent close to a thousand a month in food for this person. Why because they complained that they weren't making enough to make ends meet. I did the work of two people because they were tired all of the time. But guess what after all of this I didn't cut them off. That's what happens when they get the hooks into you, it's hard to break away. The only reason I was able to get them out of my life is because they tried to get me fired again. This is an extreme case of a bad apple but this is what happened to me.

   Now that I've talked about how bad a rotten apple can be, let's talk about how to make sure they can't ruin you. There's only one way that I know of that works and that is to cut them out of your life. That sounds harsh but as many successful people say "the people who you start your journey with aren't always standing there at the end. It's not an easy thing to do but it must be done. You want to surround yourself with like-minded people who want you to succeed. That's it nothing special but to cut them off while your losses are still low. We all know that misery loves company.

   That's the end of this post, it turned out differently than I planned but I still like it. If you've read Kevin Hart's book you know his ex-wife was a bad apple and his situation was bad. I just don't want any of you to fall victim to the type of bad apples I've had to deal with. So take this post and learn from mistakes and I'll catch you guys in the next one.