KEEP A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT
Ever heard of the “average of 5” rule? It’s a rule that states that you become the average of the five people you spend the most time with. Then how do we keep a healthy environment?
From what I understood the “average of 5” rule reflects your environment. In the examples that were given when this was explained to me, they said that if you surround yourself with people that want to build up their lives and grow as human beings with a positive attitude, some of that positivity will rub on you. If you surround yourself with people that destroy, envy, and are angry all the time, you will get some of that negativity. If you surround yourself with idiots, you will probably become the sixth idiot.
Everyone wants to be successful, but it is not easy. These days too much importance is given to having rich friends than having the right friend. In some instances, people are trying too hard to get those rich influential friends and those rich friends don’t even care. What I think works and this is not something I came up with so I won’t take the credit for it, is that you should have the right people around instead of what is considered having the best people.
Successful rich people may think they are surrounded by the best but most of the time those friendships they have are toxic. Of course, not all are bad, there are some that are supportive and give you constructive feedback to work on, while others simply are just fake.
FIND THE RIGHT PEOPLE
Having the right people in your environment will push you to become better. What would be the right kind of people to have around?
- Those who inspire you
- Those who support you and challenge you
- Those who teach you to become a better human being and
- Those who believe in you.
With the right people around, you will be closer to realizing your goals. Sometimes having the right people around is not easy. We often have people around us that may not have bad intentions, but their attitude influences our decisions. We may have an idea for a business that may seem scary.
Sometimes our friends and family don’t believe in our abilities. What do we do then? It will become difficult but in order to succeed, we have to reevaluate our relationships. We have to detoxify from the negative vibes. Sometimes that means breaking a friendship or distancing yourself from that person. These days it is so easy to fall down and the fall is often caused by family or friends. We have to give up that bond and continue with our vision. If you have an idea, keep working on it till you reach your goal.
There is a difference between constructive criticism and destructive criticism. Criticism is necessary to improve, so I am not saying close the door to critics but stay away from toxic friends and family. Make sure they don’t interfere with your path to success.
FINAL THOUGHTS
In this age of social media where someone has 200 friends online, the reality is that there is just a handful of those friends that really care about you. But not everyone realizes this, which often leads to depression. “My friends don’t like me anymore” It’s the end of the world! Well, that’s not true when we realize that friendship is so much more than likes and comments. How many times have we seen that the friends of our friends are not really their friends?
Unfortunately, there are people, even family members, who like to put others down because of envy and want to prevent them from becoming successful. They are everywhere. Today, most of us have such people in our “circles”. Some are very good at pretending, that’s why we don’t see it right away, so select your relationships carefully. Value those that gave you the straight-up unbiased truth and ignore those with a negative aura. Keep your environment as balanced as possible because that environment will be your support during difficult times.
The above notes are my opinion based on life experiences. My notes are all set. Let me know what you think.
See you on the next page.
So true! I grew up in a family were negative thoughts and statements about others and certain situations were quite common, so that habit and world view was also build into me. These days, I think I´m much better off with the people I consciously let into my life and also with my own views and habits.
I also would make the argument a bit bigger, you´re also the average of the five books you commonly read, shows you watch, music you listen to, etc.
Wish you a wonderful time
Thimo
Hi Thimo,
“average of the five books you commonly read, shows you watch, music you listen to, etc.” Hmmm…That’s interesting.
It gets complex the more you add to the list. With books, it is healthy to read about history from both sides to have a complete view and learn compassion. The most history we get in school comes from the winning side. Most people learn about history as adults. It’s good to look for personal development books, but it’s also good to read non-fiction and drive your imagination with fictional stories.
About shows it’s really hard to say, I don’t like most of the current stuff. There are exceptions of course but most things I watched are old series from detective dramas to sci-fi. It really depends but I think maybe having a mixed balance is healthy. Don’t watch only horror or sci-fi, mix it with something less heavy.
With music, I would say always add any classical/instrumental or any relaxing music to your playlist. Some people like to listen to the rain or a waterfall.
Thanks you for stopping by 🙂
Hope you have a wonderful day
It is very difficult to keep it balanced especially with family members. So what works for me is ignoring them while still being polite. There is no easy way to instantly get a balanced environment but it is possible. Keep yourself busy with things that you like and enjoy.
So true, Jane. Thanks for reading and commenting 🙂