In the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, the early round games are always played at neutral locations rather than at the home court of the competing teams. Why? Because it is taken as given that the team that plays on its home court in front of its home crowd would have an unfair advantage. Therefore, the games are held on neutral ground to ensure a fair outcome.

Should this really matter? The home fans don’t take one shot, make one dribble or play even one minute of defense. Yet every sports fan will tell you, “of course it matters!” Although sports are physical pursuits, they are played as much in the mind as they are with the body. The encouragement of the home crowd motivates. It creates incentive. The energy of the home crowd elevates the level of play of those they support. The home team players, buoyed by the home crowd, play better and win more. Statistics in most team sports bear this out. Look it up!

Athletes are not the only ones that love the home crowd. We all play better in front of our home crowd. We all perform better when supported by people genuinely interested, if not invested, in our success. The difference between our world and the athletic world is that we have no interest in leveling the field of play. It’s not that we have no interest in fairness, but simply that the game of life has too many players playing too many different games to gather them all on the same level playing field. Thus, you can’t afford any more disadvantages than are already inherent in the game.  You must always make sure that you are playing in front of your home crowd.

Playing “home games” in life requires that you surround yourself with the right people. These “right” people to have in your crowd are the ones that genuinely want to see you succeed, people for whom your success is their success. These are the only people you need around you, the only ones you should allow in your life. Playing in front of the right crowd takes work, because our environment is naturally filled with those that are ambivalent, or worse, to our best interests. On a daily basis, we have to account for “haters” that exist to offer us their negative attitudes, “competition” actively sabotaging our program or “enablers” encouraging us to do the wrong thing. All of these people are members of the opposing crowd. You don’t necessarily have to ban these folks from the stadium, but selling them season tickets behind your bench is a bad idea!

Pay close attention to the people you allow in your life. Make sure that vast majority are rooting for the home team!