Why it is Important to Choose Who You Surround Yourself With Carefully

Who you surround yourself with matters.

You are more likely to succeed and thrive when surrounded by constructive, supportive, solution-focused people.

When surrounded by people who are unreasonably negative, critical, unsupportive, ridicule your ideas and plans, and regularly ram their unsolicited advice down your throat, it is more likely to hold you back. It will also suck the living daylights out of you.

Who you surround yourself with can have a positive or negative impact on you, depending on who you let into your mental, physical, and emotional space.

In the past, I didn’t realise how much the people I had in my personal and professional life held me back and left me feeling constantly drained.

For example, when I was planning to leave my corporate career all those years ago, some colleagues, friends and family were very unsupportive and critical. They constantly told me everything that could go wrong and offered unsolicited advice about why they thought I was making a mistake. This fed my fear and uncertainty about the changes I was embarking on at that time. It was also really energy-draining and emotionally challenging.   

Thankfully, after a while, I figured out that I was surrounded by and listening to the wrong people for the changes I wanted to make in my life and work.

I started being selective about who I told things to. I began seeking out supportive people who helped me overcome my fears and apprehension. They encouraged and supported me through the transition I was choosing, which helped me set myself up to succeed. They supported me through obstacles and setbacks.

I remember hearing Richard Branson, in an interview years ago, say he attributed his success to the people he surrounded himself with. I agree with that. We need the right people in our corner as we navigate life, work, and business.

That is why we should proactively and wisely choose who we surround ourselves with.

Here are some ideas on how to approach that:

- Identify the energy vampires and folks who drain you. What changes or boundaries would be helpful to put in place to protect yourself from all of that?

- Identify constructive people whose support is unconditional, communicate in healthy ways, and offer ideas and solutions instead of criticisms. Foster more time and discussions with them.

- Review if there are certain people with whom you would benefit from restricting what information you share about your life, work, or business.

- Expand your personal and professional community. Be proactive and selective in bringing new people into your space and foster a community of the sort of people you want to be surrounded by moving forward.  

Here are a couple of ways I proactively surround myself with the right people

Professional life: I meet with a couple of mastermind buddies every couple of weeks. We brainstorm ideas, give each other feedback, map out plans, support each other in overcoming challenges, and cheer each other on. These sessions always leave me feeling ready to take action and take the next steps in my business. Spending time with these people fuels me.

Personal life: I have fostered an inner circle of close friends. These are the people I can rely on for constructive communication and unconditional support. They are the people to whom it feels safe to tell things. They are my anchors in life’s storms.

I am very selective these days about who I tell what. This has made a massive positive difference in my life and business.

The bottom line:

Who you surround yourself with matters. Being proactive about surrounding yourself with the right people is a powerful way to set yourself up to succeed and thrive, personally and professionally. Progress, transformations, changes, transitions, and achieving what matters most to you can be a lot smoother when you surround yourself with the right people.

Proceed accordingly.