For entrepreneurs, the people you pick for your “team” are just as critical as the business you choose.

Your partners, mentors, and collaborators will impact every way you’ll be measured as an entrepreneur. What your success will look like. What your income will look like.

As the great Jim Rohn said, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”

Think about those five people in your life. Do you want to be the average of them?

If your answer is anything less than an enthusiastic yes, it’s time to do some soul searching. To be a successful entrepreneur, it may be time to make some hard decisions about who you spend the bulk of your time with.

Maybe you need to limit your time with energy vampires. Maybe you need to stop sharing your hopes and dreams with negative people. Maybe you need to completely cut toxic influences out of your life…

You may think it’s cruel to tell someone in no uncertain terms, “Sorry. I’m not going to spend my energy on this anymore.” You’re afraid they’ll feel like they’ve been abandoned.

But you don’t owe them anything. They’re the toxic people who brought negativity into your life. If they can’t deal with your building something great, that’s kinda their problem.

In other words, it’s time to set boundaries for yourself. It’s time to say what behavior you’ll tolerate and what behavior you won’t. It’s time to show yourself some respect like never before.