Vigilant of your Surroundings

The people you surround yourself with have more of an impact than you may think. I’m sure you have heard before; you are who you hang out with. I only partially agree with this statement. I do think that your surroundings and the people that you hold close to you play a major role in your life, but I don’t believe that they can define you. The people that surround you only change you as much as you allow them too.

I have noticed that when I am around people that are more upbeat and enjoying life that it is hard to be in a bad mood. When these people are doing positive things for themselves and others and you can see the end result, its easy to want to make those same positive choices. This is because I allow them to influence my life though. I have seen how in a group of positive people; someone can still be that negative Debby downer. This is because they are not letting the surroundings influence their state of mind.

At a previous job I had, the overall daily attitude was greatly affected by others. As soon as one person would get pissed off and in a bad mood it would spread through the warehouse like wildfire. Especially when you are at work and you can’t physically get away from a negative person since you work with them, it can be hard to stay in your own mind space. I like to believe I am usually a happy and positive person but there were days that got the best of me and I wouldn’t be that positive person.

            Let’s face it, if you hang around criminals all day long and keep them close to you on a personal level, the chance for you to fall into that lifestyle increases. You listen to the conversations and stories and you may want to be able to tell those stories yourself. In the same manner, if you surround yourself with high achievers and people that are successful (keep in mind every person has different views of success) you have a higher chance of becoming successful. If you plan on making a big career change in your life, chances are you want to know what you’re getting into or how to maximize this change. If you were a mechanic but now want to get into stock trading, you most likely will want to start associating with people who trade stocks. You learn from the ones around you and they bring value to you.  It is important to be adding value into their lives also, otherwise the relationship you have may fall apart. If it is one sided for too long, that relationship starts to become parasitic. This is where one continues to benefit at the cost of the other.

            When you surround yourself with the people that you want to become you start to talk like them. You start to act like them and most importantly, you begin to think like them. You prepare yourself for the changes in yourself. This is why it is important to be aware of your surroundings. Unless your friend group is toxic to your life and who you want to become, I don’t think you should leave them all behind you. Long friendships are something to value and cherish. Like I said before though, there needs to be value added from both parties to make that relationship work better. Challenge each other is a positive way so that you both continue to grow.  At the end of the day the important thing to remember is that your surroundings help influence your life and your decisions. Sometimes to make the big changes if your life you have to decide what you want to keep in your surroundings and what you need to get rid of. 

 

 

            Much Love and God Bless