Why It’s Important To Surround Yourself with Positive People
The people you surround yourself with can have a huge impact on your life.
The people that you spend time with, work around, and communicate with are the ones who will make you happy or sad.
This isn’t about blaming others or a victim mentality, it’s about the direct and indirect influence that draining, negative people can have in our lives. It doesn’t matter if you’re mentally strong enough to withstand their negative talk and behavior, it’s more about the subtle influence they can have on your thoughts, beliefs and motivation.
Don’t let people disrespect you. My mom says don’t open the door to the devil. Surround yourself with positive people. Cuba Gooding, Jr.
It is critical to surround yourself with positive people for this reason. Negative attitudes can be contagious and have long-term impacts on your health. This post will discuss some tips to help you surround yourself with the right people.
It’s not always easy to remove these people from our lives though, but there are certainly ways that we can best ‘manage’ their negative mindsets.
“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” Jim Rohn
What happens when you surround yourself with the wrong people?
“He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster . . . when you gaze long into the abyss the abyss also gazes into you.” Friedrich Nietzsche
For starters, when surrounding yourself with the wrong people, you will likely find yourself in a bad mood all the time around them – before you’re about to see them and after you’ve spent time with them.
These people surround themselves with negative thoughts, negative news, conspiracy theories, do not want to listen and are often extremely stubborn about their point of view. They tend to be extremely draining!
In many cases, these types of relationships cause resentment because it’s difficult for them to see anything good or positive.
They will ‘poo-poo’ your ideas, goals and dreams to a point that you stop sharing your true self with them.
“People inspire you, or they drain you – pick them wisely.” Hans F. Hansen
Negative attitudes can be contagious and have long-term impacts on your health. It usually happens ever so slowing, that you may not even know it. You might find standards slipping, expectations lowering and self-doubt seeping in.
Any success you have (or possible future success) is threatening to them, as it highlights their own feelings of inadequacies. This is of course, not your battle to fight.
“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.” Mark Twain
Who would I consider “positive”?
One person may have an outlook on life which causes them to see only the good while another sees potential problems everywhere they look.
There’s no one way of defining what constitutes being so, but it often comes down to this: does their attitude cause more positivity or negativity? How do you feel when you are around them?
Surround yourself with really good people. I think that’s an important thing. Because the people you surround yourself are a reflection of you. Aaron Rodgers
What happens when you surround yourself with positivity?
Positive people on the other hand will help you up when you fall. They’ll push and support your dreams, help make more sense of the world, bring joy to your life and generally just make things better.
If it’s in their power, then they will do what they can to see you succeed. They’re encouraging, uplifting and supporting.
They’re often happy with themselves so if someone becomes negative around them or starts complaining about anything-they try not to engage because negativity only serves as a distraction from living a positive life.
Positive people can make a huge impact on your life by helping motivate you when things seem bleak. They also provide emotional support that many times cannot be found elsewhere. You should find someone who has these qualities as they are necessary for a healthy relationship.
You don’t just need ‘yes’ people around you, but you need to be challenged, encouraged and supported by those people around you and in return, you should ensure that you too are being a positive person to them. It’s contagious!
“If we surround ourselves with people who are successful, who are forward-moving, who are positive, who are focused on producing results, who support us, it will challenge us to be more and do more and share more. If you can surround yourself with people who will never let you settle for less than you can be, you have the greatest gift that anyone can hope for.” Tony Robbins
How can I surround myself with positivity?
“Surround yourself with those who only lift you higher.” Oprah Winfrey
No, we can’t choose our relatives, our colleagues, class mates or other various group members that we have to associate with regularly. In this case, go prepared! Based on previous experiences and conversations, you may need to limit how much you share with them and perhaps even politely ask to end any negative conversations or leave the room when needed.
What we can control however, is our friends and our partners, so make sure you are choosing well!
We can also increase the time we are spending with positive people who share common interests, hobbies or have common goals. Join a triathlon club, a basketball team, a running club, a cooking club, a Toastmasters – anything where you’re finding ‘your people’.
If you can’t meet or surround yourself with ‘your people’ physically, then look online for clubs, mastermind groups or Facebook groups with people who share your common goals. Watch inspirational material, listen to positive podcasts and read motivational and positive quotes to flood your senses with more positivity!
The people we surround ourselves with have an impact on our lives. Choose wisely as much as you can!
Need a little more positivity in your life? Be sure to check these posts out:
- Positive Self Talk Quotes & Sayings
- The Power of Positive Affirmations
- 20 Funny Gratitude Quotes & Memes: Because Life Isn’t Always Rosy
- Positive Outlook: How to Get and Keep A More Positive Attitude
- 50+ Positive Attitude Quotes To Highlight The Power Of Attitude
- 24 Funny Positive Thinking Quotes To Make You Laugh!
