You are the average of your five closest friends.
You heard me right. No matter who they are or what you think of them, you are similar, in almost every fashion. Whether or not you like them or not, you are almost mirrors of each other.
This is an incredibly powerful, but also dangerous thought. With it, you can bump yourself up, and become better, or you can sink yourself lower than you can imagine. This isn’t debatable, it’s human psychology. You cannot fight it.
If you don’t believe me then just look at your friends, analyze your closest relationships and look within them, beyond the surface level. Ideally, you’ll realize that you both are alike. Others will see something they dislike, and reject these thoughts.
But yes, this is true, just as true as the Earth rotates the Sun. So let’s use it to our advantage; you can often elevate yourself, and your life up by finding a higher standard, a higher energy level. This can average you up, and make you better than where you were. Now, people often associate with like-minded people, people rooted in their own beliefs, similarly stuck at one point in life. It’s dangerous to be stuck in a repeated cycle, too soon and you’ll find yourself losing years off your life.
I don’t want my work to be futile, I want to use it every second. So I reflect on this quote and one my pastor told me. “Show me your friends, I’ll show you your future.” And he’s dead-on, bullseye.
I find myself stuck in a fashion with some of my previous best friends, who have switched focus, and relaxed, knocking down their drive tremendously. It’s sad, and I feel for them but I realize it isn’t my place to change them. I cannot change anybody but myself, that’s what I’m held to. In the past, I’ve tried to force my drive upon people, to pull them up to my standard. It only backfires, and I loosen the relationship.
I need to be the big man, to make the hard decisions if I want the easy life. I’ll approach them, and offer my help, my realization, and if they see it, cool I’ll help them and be with them any way I can. If not, well I just changed my destiny for the better, and although it’s rough, it’ll be better in the end. Something they will just have to live with.