Choosing Friends Is One of the Most Important Decisions in Life
Who you choose to hang out with determines who you will become
I have a group of die-hard friends I have known for over thirty years. We are so close that we still meet each other every week. If not for exercise, it would be for lunch or dinner. Well, more frequently than not, it would be over beers; worst, our wives know each others’ wives too.
We didn’t know we would stick to one another for so long. Die-hard friendships are not easy to forge. There are a lot of sacrifices and forgiveness to make. I have learnt that choosing friends is one of the most important decisions in life. The success or failure of your life is all related to the quality of your friends, so don't underestimate the importance of the type of people you choose to hang out with.
Not everyone is worthy of association and closeness. Some people will not hesitate to throw you under a bus and even have the cheek to smile at you in the process. And some would stick to you like a leech and drain your energy, time and resources. Those who only consume your energy are likely to hinder your progress and destroy your life.
Learn to avoid bad influences and stop destroying your life.
So how do you know if someone is a bad influence? Here are three signs to watch out for. Number 2 is what limits most of us from achieving success.
“When someone around you always complains, you will slowly get affected by the person's negative mindset, and you will begin to lose your enthusiasm toward life.”
A person who complains all the time is inevitably a selfish individual. He who complains doesn’t care about others’ feelings and preys on other people's time and emotions.
If you are someone who likes to complain, you may feel great at that instance, but you won't realise your little habit will consume your mind and slowly drain away all the positivity from your life.
Everyone will have their fair share of trying times. Strong people don’t complain but try their best to change the status quo and alter their course toward a position of strength.
If you can, stay away from people who are habitual complainers. Complaints won’t solve problems. They only convey bad energy to themselves and to others.
“A friend who is jealous of your achievement and doesn't want you to live a good life is naturally not going to celebrate your success.”
There is a group of friends with whom you can go through hardship but not celebrate success.
This group of people can share your misfortune and render good support. But when it comes to success, they cannot tolerate your achievement and become jealous of your wealth. This is the extremes of human behaviour because it implicates the two dark sides of human nature: selfishness and greed.
When the friends around you become jealous of your success and habitually deny your achievements, living in such a social circle will gradually make you lose confidence and courage.
Once your friend has developed a sense of jealousy against you, everything you do will be wrong. The greatest evil of human nature is not seeing the good in others, demeaning your effort and devaluing your achievements.
“People who think too highly of themselves and are arrogant enough to treat you condescendingly, you can be sure they are not your friend.”
The kind of social circle you are in determines the potential of your achievement. While it is true if you surround yourself with high achievers, you will naturally succeed. But you have to understand that there are all kinds of people in this world, and there is one group of high achievers you should avoid hanging out with.
Some people always feel that they are superior to you and that it is your blessing to be with them. Such people place themselves highly and will never be sincere toward your friendship.
Such self-proclaimed high-ranking people are particularly selfish, and you can be sure the person they love the most is themselves. They are self-centred. Compared to your friendship, they value their self-interest more. They wouldn’t blink or hesitate to throw you under the bus if it benefits their self-interest.
Takeaways
In this life, the kind of people you choose to hang out with will be the sort of people you will become. It is most important to choose your friend wisely; surrounding yourself with positive energy will influence you to become a better version of yourself.
When you have more friends with such positive energy, your attitude towards life will turn optimistic, and your behaviour will also change for the better.
Over time, your world will be full of sunshine and summer sky. Attracting more positive people into your social circle, and becoming a self-reinforcing circle of positive influence to your family and friends. At that stage, success is inevitable.
Thank you for reading to the end. I hope you have enjoyed it.
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I had a friend who had nothing going for him and was bitter about his bleak life. I was the only bright spot. Ultimately, the friendship imploded because he resented my engagement with other people and activities.
Yep. You tend to become like the folks you hang with. Good write. Thanks.