I came out of the last weekend full of happiness and energy – it was great! But it took me by surprise, since the whole weekend was a rush between afternoon teas, birthday parties and dinners with family and friends. I’m usually quite particular to keep a nice balance between social activities and my me-time, and this weekend definitely fell short on the latter. I should have been exhausted! Still, I felt quite the opposite…
On PinkJamLife, we’ve previously talked about the importance of human connections, family and friends, but in this post I want to look at it from a slightly different angle. Do people close to us play a role on how we feel, how we act, who we are? In my opinion: YES, for sure!
As speaker and author Jim Rohn put it in his famous quote: “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with”. Wow! To back this up with some research, social psychologist Dr. David McClelland of Harvard, claims that “[the people you habitually associate with] determine as much as 95 percent of your success or failure in life.” This is crazy, isn’t it? But to me, it actually does make sense.
A child with negative, unmotivated parents will likely grow up as a negative, unmotivated adult. A kid growing up in an ambitious family full of over-achievers will feel pressured to succeed him- or herself. In the first years of our lives, our close family has an immense impact on our world-views and how we see our own place in it.
Later in life, we choose our social circle. Be sure to choose wisely, because also your friends, colleagues and mentors can have a significant influence on how you think about yourself. And we all know – thoughts transform into action.
Maybe you have peeps you aspire to, who you can learn from and who provide you support and motivation for your life plans. Or at least you get a good laugh and positive energy from them.
On the other hand, do you also know some people who love to play the constant critic, telling you ‘you can’t do this, you can’t do that’, ‘it’s too hard’, ‘the world is bad’…? Even if you try not to listen, it can be really hard to not let the negativity touch you. So think twice if these are the right people you want to spend your valuable time with!
Surround yourself with people who make you feel good. Relationships should be built on mutual trust and support for each other. While a constructive criticism is always welcome, a never-ending rain of bad energy certainly is not. Remember: You are free to choose who you want to spend your time with. And believe me, being alone is surely better than being with someone who is not right for you!
When I think about my close peeps, each one has qualities I admire and I can learn from. Each one helps me to bring out a better version of myself. Each one gives me energy. So actually, no wonder my weekend was great!
Take care,
Saby
