“Surround yourself with people who provide you with support and love and remember to give back as much as you can in return.”
When I reflect on my past successes and failures, I realize the significant impact relationships have on my life. As far back as high school, I was fortunate to have a NCAA wrestling champion, Jack Reinwand, as a role model and his influence helped me become a State Champion. When I went off to college, the people I surrounded myself with were negative influences and I flunked out after 3 semesters. A quote by Jim Rohn says it best, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”
I believe in personal accountability for the results in our life; however, this does not lesson the influence that people have on us. The people you surround yourself with are just as important as choosing your profession, what activity you are doing or what you eat. Many of us have a tendency to develop similar habits and characteristics of the people in our life. If the people you surround yourself with are unmotivated, lazy, bad with money, smokers, cheaters, overweight, or procrastinators, research has shown that your chance of having these same characteristics goes up.
When you consider this tendency, you should appreciate the value of healthy relationships and also become aware of the impact your actions have on others.
Do you receive these benefits from people you surround yourself with? Are you providing these benefits to others?
Inspiration
Mentoring
Support
Honest feedback
A unique or contrasting perspective
Love/Friendship
Influence
Guidance
Accountability
Happiness
I encourage you to assess your relationships and determine if they are having a negative influence on your life. Because of their self-destructive habits or poor attitude, the people that are having a negative impact on your life should be easy to identify.
Do you find yourself joining in on the negativity and leading to your unhappiness?
Now reflect on how you feel when you are around a positive person.
Is your stress level lower? Do you focus on positive things and feel inspired to improve your life?
When you compare how you feel between the two experiences, the choice of who you spend your time with should be an easy decision and will have a significant impact on your life.
Final thoughts:
Having positive relationships is one of the most important decisions you can make for your future happiness and quality of life. Since research has shown that relationships have a tendency to impact your health and happiness, the people you frequently interact with can be a blessing or a curse on your life. A good strategy is to think about the people that have a positive influence in your life and become intentional about spending more time with them. An effective way to attract better relationships is to add value to people’s lives. The way you live your life and treat others will help you attract high character people.
If you want honest feedback, send the “Assess Your Relationships” link “https://www.lifebizstrategies.net/visualizing-download/assessment-of-relationships/” to a friend and you will discover if you are a positive influence in their life.
