You can only do as well as the people around you. If everyone around you is sick, underperforming, and struggling, then sooner or later, you will become afflicted like everyone else. For example, pensions are strangling city and state governments because handfuls of people were interested in their own situation and didn\’t consider the impact it would have on the group as a whole. This type of “me first” thinking—that has no regard for the group—ultimately stifles the very group upon which an individual depends for survival. This self-serving approach later makes it almost impossible for the group to survive—and puts even that which was promised at peril.
The larger population\’s health and well-being should be of utmost importance to each individual member—which is something that the most successful know. You can only be as successful as the individuals with whom you involve and associate yourself. It doesn\’t matter what position you hold—whether you are leading a group or are part of a group—your success is limited to the ability of those around you. This does not mean that successful people aren\’t interested in themselves. It\’s just that they realize that they have to expend energy and express interest in their associates because they know that if they are not doing well, even the most well-to-do will be dragged down with them. It is actually self-serving, to some degree, to care about what happens to everyone else. You want everyone on your team winning and improving because this is likely to improve your game. For that reason, you always want to do everything you can to bring the rest of the team to higher levels.
Grant Cardone. “The 10X Rule.”