You're The Average Of The Five People You Spend Most Time With

Here’s a favorite quote of mine from motivational speaker Jim Rohn:

You’re The Average Of The Five People You Spend Most Time With

As simple and straight forward as the quote may sound, there’s actually quite a bit of depth to it. Who you are at any point in your life is strongly defined by those 5 people that are closest to you. In my experience there are three types of influence people have on you - positive, negative and zero.

Positive and negative influencers are easy to figure out - and I strongly recommend cutting out those who are the negatives, but I’ll write about that some other time. It’s those people who fit into the zero category that you should be weary about - those who bring in nothing to your personal or professional relationship.

It’s the kind of people who are there, barely noticeable just leeching off of you, they do nothing but wear you down. This is why this quote really struck me - one day I realized I was surrounded by people who wanted something from me, but gave nothing back.

We’ve got two surround ourselves by a supporting spouse, good friends and business partners that will help and push you to your goals. It’s the kind of people you both teach and learn from, you help and get help from - a symbiotic personal or business relationship.

Those are the kind of people we all need in our lives.