Your time is your most valuable asset, and it is like priceless pearls to you. They are limited, as your days on earth are limited. Your time is that important.

Hilton Johnson has been in direct sales for over 40 years. He has been coaching and training salespeople, managers, professionals and business owners for over 30 years. This man knows what he’s talking about. He says,

“One thing that will burn you right out of this business, folks, is spending your time with the wrong people.”
- Howard Johnson

I cannot stress this strongly enough.

There is an idiomatic Japanese saying, “Gold coins to a cat.” Not only will you waste time that could have been put to better use with good people, but there is a serious danger attached. Read the following:

“Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.”
- Christian Bible

Note the scary last part: “And turn and render you” – that means rip you apart! Yes, they will turn on you when they can’t understand your opportunity and message! They will punish you for their own lack of understanding and discipline. By casting your pearls before swine, you bring them into your business, your circle, your family, where they can become dangerous traitors. Now here’s another shocking reality:

“A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear. The traitor is the plague.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

It’s not just dumb to spend time with the wrong people, it’s dangerous. Make people qualify for your time. Protect it carefully, steadfastly and seriously!