Who’s In Your 5?
“You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.” — Jim Rohn
One of the great things about living in Philly is how close you are to the beach.
You can go from the Liberty Bell to the ocean faster than you can watch Rocky 3 for the 10th time.
“My Prediction?…Pain.”
During our last trip, I went in the ocean with my kids.
After a few minutes I turned around.
We were 25 yards from where we walked in.
An undercurrent pushed us down the coast without us even realizing.
This concept plays out in our everyday life.
There is a POWERFUL force that either pushes us forward or pulls us back.
It’s the people in our lives.
Who we spend time with INFLUENCES who we become.
There is a great quote from Goethe that says, “Tell me who you spend time with and I will tell you who you are.”
Each person we allow into our life influences us in some way.
We start to:
- EAT what they eat.
- DRINK what they drink.
- READ what they read.
- SPEAK like they speak.
- THINK like they think.
Eventually, we start to do what they do.
To have a remarkable life, you have to surround yourself with REMARKABLE people.
Ryan Holiday wrote, “The people we surround ourselves with set the baseline for what we think is possible.”
We have to keep the right people in (and out) of our lives.
This is not always easy.
But it’s necessary.
Jim Rohn taught that we have to EVALUATE and SHIFT our associations into 3 categories:
- Expand
- Limit
- Walk Away
Expand, Limit, or Walk Away
EXPAND
There are certain people that make us BETTER.
They CHALLENGE us and bring out our best.
They PUSH us forward.
Our job is to find ways to EXPAND the time we spend with them.
Where do the people you admire hang out?
Join those organizations.
Find ways to spend more time in those communities.
LIMIT
Some people drag us down.
We need to LIMIT our interactions with them.
Maybe we can spend 5 minutes together, but definitely not 5 hours.
This idea can be tough.
This person may be a coworker or even in our extended family.
Regardless, we need to LIMIT our time with NEGATIVE influences.
WALK AWAY
There may be times when we need to WALK AWAY from people all together.
Can you think of a person that kills your ENTHUSIASM each time you see them?
You may have to cut them out of your life.
We can’t allow another person’s NEGATIVE ENERGY have a profound affect on our life.
No one knows what challenges lie ahead.
Being surrounded by positive influences is a great place to start.
#Who’sInYour5?
-Joe Ciccarone
