There’s a common saying that we are the average of our five closest friends.
Given my experience these past few years, I would absolutely agree.
It’s all about the communities and environments you craft around yourself.
If you’re around drug addicts or alcoholics, chances are you may become one or the other even if you weren’t previously.
Likewise, if you’re around founders and CEOs of billion dollar startups, you may decide to start your own company.
These are not exact sciences, of course.
It comes down to what you DO at the end of the day.
But the environment that is around you most of the time will have an outsized impact on your thoughts and eventually your actions.
It just increases the probabilities of you taking part in the same activities as those around you.
So now that you see the importance of crafting the right circles, I want to get into some of the ways you know if you’re circle is benefitting you to the max.
First, you want to be around active people.
People who care for their health both mentally and physically.
Those who would love to go to the gym or play a sport instead of sit at home and eat potato chips.
From my experience, these types of people are much more likely to care about their life.
Second, be around people who are different thinkers.
You want to be around a smart decentralized friend group that do not all think the same.
Most conventionally smart people follow the same paths.
Do well in high school, take the hardest classes, join the same clubs, try to get board positions, volunteer in their spare time, go to college, and repeat.
These people are just cogs in the machine, they do not think for themselves and they are not clear thinkers.
Most of them are following what they think is “right” over what they actually want to do.
They’re running a hedonic treadmill of “once I get into this college, I’ll stop” or “once I get this job, I’ll relax” and that type of thinking is truly degrading.
Get away from it as soon as possible before it metastasizes in your own head.
The people who you are around must have the proper values and mental models in place such as thinking from first principles when its important or only focusing on the most value-add opportunities (Pareto principle).
Finally, be around people that genuinely lift you up and are collaborative.
No time for toxic people and those who wish for your downfall.
You’d be surprised at how many people are bitter and don’t really want the best for you.
It’s important to notice which people are truly kind and compassionate and willing to lend out a happy hand at any moment.
This is perhaps the most important trait of all because once you are in a group of people that wish for joined success, sky is truly the limit.
The first thing for you to do is not go and find the people that have these traits.
The first thing to do is to figure out if you have them yourself.
You must be worthy of worthy friends and only then, will people naturally gravitate to you too.