You Are Who You Spend Time With
Jim Rohn famously said that we are the average of the five people we spend the most time with.
“You’re not the average of the FIVE people you surround with. It’s way bigger than that. You’re the average of all the people who surround you. So take a look around and make sure you’re in the right surroundings.” — David Burkus
We all have control over who we spend time with, we never have to spend time with someone.
You don’t have to spend time with your boss, get a new job.
You don’t have to spend time with your boyfriend, end the relationship.
You don’t have to spend time with your family, move.
You don’t have to spend time with your friends, spend time doing things you care about.
We can always decide and change our environment.
It all depends on what we want.
If we want to win, we better spend some time surrounded by winners.
If we want to have a higher level of fitness and live a healthier lifestyle, we better spend time around people who know how to be healthy.
If we want to increase our financial position, we better spend some time with those who know how to grow money.
People talk a lot about having an open mindset and being able to listen to other perspectives. The difficult thing is respectfully disregarding perspectives.
I believe that this is so important to remember and truly apply.
Some people really don’t know anything about what we want to do.
If there’s a family member who has not worked out in 30 years, their opinion is probably not the one that you want to listen to when you’re trying to become healthier. Don’t workout with them. Workout with someone who knows things that you don’t IF you that aligns with your goals. Some people simply don’t care about health and fitness, they’re just content living as long as they can without working out or eating healthy.
Some people are perfectly fine with making $100,000 a year, a house, and a family and settling down after they get there. Cool. But if all your friends continue driving and building and begin making 1, 2, 5, 10 million a year, you will likely feel restless. You will likely feel like you’re missing something.
I like to stay aware of who I spend time with. I was listening to a podcast earlier with Andy Frisella and Tim Grover; Andy was saying he really doesn’t spend much time with friends. That just doesn’t fit his vision.
But much like him, I’m very aware and conscious of who I spend time with — and how much time.
At least twice a year and every time I drastically change my environment, I do an analysis. I take time to think about who I’m spending time with and why. What are these people giving me. And, what am I giving them.
Both are important to me. I don’t believe that everyone needs to give me something — sometimes I’m the mentor. But, I must be aware of where my energy is going.
I’m me, I should know myself best. I know what it takes for me to be at my best. I know what my goals are better than anyone else and I know how much sacrifice it’s going to take.
That means that everything is important to me. I know what I give to people and I’m aware of how that affects me.
Likewise, I believe everyone should be self-aware enough to understand how other people are affecting them.
Who do you spend time with? Why?
In the same way, who do you avoid spending time with? Why?
To close, I believe there’s a healthy balance.
We become the people that we spend time with. We probably spend the most time with the people that we live with, the people we work with, etc.
I’m very conscious of who I take information from. I don’t watch TV. I don’t watch news shows. I don’t spend much time at social gatherings. I don’t read love stories.
I just simply don’t desire to become like those people, if I did, that wouldn’t achieve my goals. Maybe for your goals, that’s what you want to do.
I’m totally with that, I support that, I respect that. We become like the people that we spend time with. Who have you spent the most time with so far in August?