You are the average of the 5 people you hang out more often!!!

Throughout my entire entrepreneurial journey so far, there have been many situations and experiences which contributed greatly towards improving myself and realising the steps I had to take next. There is a quote which I find the most useful and more accurate. It goes like this: “You are the average of the 5 people you hang out with”, and I must admit that it has made quite an impression on me and I have struggled hard to put it in practice.

When I first came across this phrase, I lived in England and I was in a rather lonely vocation. For those who do not know, I used to work as a professional lorry driver at some point in my life. One day and while I was at work, alone in the cabin of my truck, I realised that I was surrounded by people who could not help me improve myself. They could not help me take the next step in my life.

Due to the demanding nature of my work and the long hours I had to put in, I had a great difficulty in meeting new people as I obviously lacked the free time to socialise. Thus, I realised I had to find a way to get “new” people in my life. I realised I had to somehow acquire new knowledge which would help me in developing new skills and in improving myself. It was during that time of my life that I came across podcasts. Listening to podcasts turned out to be a great activity for me as I could do so while I was at work and I could open myself to new challenges, new knowledge- all from the seat of my truck while driving.

Then, another significant question came to surface- it revolved around defining the ideal kind of people that I would like to hang out with. And believe me, the answer was anything but easy. At this point, I would like to point out that from early on in my life my main goal was to be able to work remotely and not be confined inside the walls of an office. This was one of the reasons that I studied Computer Science. What is more I was fully aware by then of the lifestyle of the Digital Nomads . And if you wonder who they are, allow me to explain. Digital Nomads are those people who nowadays enjoy working from anywhere they find themselves to be while at the same time they enjoy the freedom to travel as they wish.

During one of my quick searches for inspiring podcasts I happened to come across Johnny FD and the podcast with the title Travel Like a Boss. For me that specific podcast turned out to be the ultimate inspiration that changed my life. It stood out as an obvious and clear proof that a different lifestyle, an alternative way of living was feasible and there were indeed countless individuals who happened to follow that specific lifestyle. What was standing in my way from doing the same then?

But I did not limit myself to listening to that specific type of podcasts alone. If anything the pool of podcasts available out there is massive and so I came across the podcast by Tim Feriss . And it was then, that through that podcast I was introduced to the one and only, amazing Peter Diamantis. The latter taught me how to think 10x or in other words, how to multiply by 10 the impact that an idea might have. It was around that time that I had first began fiddling with the possibility of founding an NGO about education. Equipped with the 10x mindset I managed to turn my idea into something more significant and substantial. I managed to turn my idea into reality. Who would have thought that almost after 5 years I would be the co-founder, an integral part and pillar of the Social Hackers Academy.

But enough with the theory. Let’s get to practice. We are all surrounded by people full in negativity who dry the positive vibes out of us. For those people I like to use the term Negative Energy Vampires to characterise the power their negativity has on the rest of us. Those kind of people not only do they not help you move forward with your life and improve yourself, but they also try to keep you tied to the ground if you even try to do something different.

Truth be told, they are not the ones to blame. As is often the case they too act the way they have been conditioned to act, the only way they have learned, the only way they know how to deal with similar situations. But it is up to you to kick all the negative people out of your life. Whether that is your girlfriend, or your best friend or even your parents. You should not waste your time on negativity and negative people and if you want to make your dreams come true, you have to come up with a way to be surrounded by positive people, full of life and a profound love for personal development.

Summing up I would like to continue with the narration of my story. As I kept on listening to various podcasts religiously, I slowly realised that though the knowledge offered and the amount of the advice received was massive and very useful too, I still had to come up with a way to get new people in my life. And this is how I started messaging people I wanted to get to know. To my great surprise most of them responded to my messages in a positive way. With some of those after establishing a certain degree of communication there was no connection but with some of them we have come to build a friendship.

For all these reasons, pause for a moment, take your time and ponder. Contemplate on the people you spend more time with and if or how they help you make all your dreams come true. If it turns out that one of your friends does not contribute much then it is probably the right time for you to let them lead their own way, without you. After all, you have embarked on your own, challenging and demanding journey of understanding yourself and making all your dreams come true.

P.S. I would be happy to connect with you on Instagram