You are the everage of the five people you spend the most time with
Jim Rohn
Most likely, you’ve come across this quote in some way or another – maybe, you’ve even experienced yourself , that it’s not so much just a quote, but simple reality. And actually being aware of its effect might have a greater power over you and your life, than you’d probably want it to have:
Your friends make you obese
Wait, what?
No, of course not in every case! But your friends actually do influence the numbers you see on your scale!
A study done by Nicholas A. Christakis and James H. Fowler in 2007 tried to examine whether weight gain in one person was associated with weight gain in his/ her friends or family.
And the results?
Well … The study showed, that a person’s chances of becoming obese increased by approximately 55% if a friend became obese in the given time interval. Furthermore, it clearly showed that if one sibling became obese, the chances of the other sibling having the same issue increased by 40% – and if one spouse became obese, the likelihood that the other spouse would become obese increased by 37%
Now you do not need sociological studies to know that the people closest to you actually do have an influence on you in many ways: they undoubtedly shape who you are; They determine what conversations dominate your attention, affect to which attitudes and behaviors you are regularly exposed as well as they’ll shape your perception of what’s right/wrong/ desirable (business/goals wise).
Theories even suggest, that you’re only as rich as the average of your best friends!
Mastermind groups
In recent times, the person most responsible for popularizing the idea of like minded groups and alliances in a business context was the amercian self-help author (‘think and grow rich’) Napoleon Hill, with his concept of ‘mastermind groups’ which basically is a peer-to-peer mentoring concept used to help members solve their problems with input and advice from the other group members
Success or failure?
Who you are around — what those people have got you saying, thinking doing and becoming — unquestionably sets the course of your life.
According to research done by Harvard social psychologist Dr. David McClelland, the people with whom you habitually associate with are called your “reference group”. This group of people determine as much as 95 percent of your success or failure in life.
That’s shocking, no? For me it was!
But what do you do about it?
Your ‘growth environment’
John Maxwell, an amercian author and speaker, came up with a list called “My Growth Environment.” The list is supposed to help YOU make decisions about your personal growth.
It says, “in a growth environment…
- Others are Ahead of me.
- I am continually Challenged.
- My focus is Forward.
- The atmosphere is Affirming.
- I am often out of my Comfort Zone.
- I wake up Excited.
- Failure is not my Enemy.
- Others are Growing.
- People desire Change.
- Growth is Modeled and Expected.”
Ask yourself:
Who do you spend the most time with? Who are the people you most admire? Are those two groups of people the same?
Take over
control, build your own bubble. And make it a good one.
You decide whether the people around you propel you forward in life or whether
they hold you back – it’s not easy to accept, but you will have to outgrow
certain people in life.
Find people that make you want more in life, because there is more in YOUR life.
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