Show me your friends, I’ll tell you who you are.
https://soundcloud.com/hosplug/production-5012
So you finally have everything laid out and planned to start achieving your goals. Short term benchmarks? Check. Long term strategy? Check. Vision board? Check.
It’s now been three months and you’re still struggling to drag yourself to follow through on completing something. What’s going on here?
What many of us overlook is the invisible, yet powerful, influence of your social circle. Surprisingly, the people in your life affect the quality of your health (both mental and physical), happiness, and success.
Think back. When your friend saw your vision board, did they congratulate you for making an effort to push yourself or did they make fun of you for trying? Maybe they didn’t even notice.
While we like to think of ourselves as separate entities independently operating above the influence, it’s an all too real fact that elevating yourself requires elevating your social circle too.
Health & Happiness
Image: kuow.org
Self-actualization is the new prestige. Luxury today means inner peace and a clear mind. Time and time again the cure, more meaningful relationships. Studies show that those with fulfilled relationships live longer and happily, married couples have a longer life expectancy. Relationships are so influential that when one spouse dies, the remaining spouse’s likelihood of death increases two-fold. This makes sense considering the mortality risk associated with a lack of a strong social network.
"The benefits of a connected life outweigh the costs. If I was always violent towards you or gave you misinformation or made you sad or infected you with deadly germs you would cut the ties to me and the network would disintegrate. So the spread of good and valuable things is required to sustain and nourish social networks. Similarly, social networks are required for the spread of good and valuable things like love and kindness and happiness and altruism and ideas. I think, in fact, that if we realized how valuable social networks are, we'd spend a lot more time nourishing them and sustaining them because I think social networks are fundamentally related to goodness."
Success – The Content Lifestyle
It comes as no surprise then that our network affects our net worth too. We tend to pick up the habits, mindsets, and activities of those we spend the most time with. So if your friends are going to the bar Friday after their 9-5, it is really easy to imagine how that will rub off on you. Even if you are determined, it’s a bit like swimming upstream. Let’s say you became especially inspired to live the Content Lifestyle after reading a few SwomiBUZZ articles. So, you set a goal of living the Content Lifestyle (monetizing the value of your online content), sign up for your own SwomiBUZZ Flyer, and start your own online travel lifestyle brand. Why not surround yourself with people who are also starting their own online side hustles? Even better, make friends with those who are better than you. That will truly help you push yourself.
Tips to Improve Your Squad
Image: everydaypowerblog.com
Your friends contribute to your health, wealth, and peace of mind. So just how do you go about social health?
- Loose the “dead weight” - You may have friends who are unsupportive, needy, negative, or just plain emotionally abusive. While you don’t have to cut them out of your life completely, minimize the time you spend with them.
- Seek out people you admire – focus on quality over quantity. Fight the urge to fill your time with people who don’t inspire you just because you’re feeling bored or lonely.
- It’s not about you! - When making new friends, it can be easy to be overly self-conscious. What if they don’t like me? What will I do if I say something wrong? Am I presentable? The antidote to this self-destructive spiral of thinking is to focus on other people. Be genuinely interested in the other person and suddenly you’re not thinking about yourself and making new friends.
Word Up: Your Words Have Worth
The people you are around matters. You are also a creator of Timeless Content and Content lives in your words. That’s why we say Your Words Have Worth. Let Swomi’s automated technology connect an audience with your brand. Check out our Flyer program today and create quality online relationships with a curated audience.
