Your goals are deeply connected to your social circles. All of us get inspiration and motivation by the example set by our friends, family, and other important people in our lives. Their actions, their way of thinking, their attitude, all of that affects us. Many people wrote about this, and it seems 100% true. We need to be wise about the people we spend a lot of time with. Why? Because they’re going to influence the course of our life.
Even if you’re very conscious about the people you choose to spend time with, there will be times you’ll need to deal with conflicts. You want to go somewhere and intend to take action to go there, but your friends, family, or partner, exert an influence that makes it difficult. It’s not that they do it on purpose. It’s just the way they are. At the moment, they might be in a different place in their lives. And that’s fine. You can get lots of social support and inspiration to achieve your goals, but you can’t ask this of everyone.
Choosing Goals by Choosing Social Circles
If you’re experiencing some form of misalignment between your goals and your social circles, you can try focusing on the people part of the equation. Instead of picking a goal first and hoping to get support to reach it, try spending more time with the people who have already achieved it. Our views and biases influence the way we think and the actions we take, so they’re going to show up everywhere. Even if you’re talking with a positive and growth-oriented friend, if your views on your goals are entirely different, that might dissuade you from taking action.
Being around courageous and ambitious people might be intimidating. You might feel threatened or pressured to level up your game. And that’s a good thing 🙂 Here you need to be honest with yourself:
If your current social circles are not helping you move forward towards your goals, then they’re holding you back.
It’s not uncommon that friends, family, and partners keep us from doing our best because of their attitudes. Once again: it’s not that they want you to fail. It’s just the way they are. You can’t ask them to be different. Well, actually you could, but would you do it? Why not start spending more time with those who are already there?
You don’t need to unfriend your current friends. Just start adding to your life more people aligned with your goals 😉
