I constantly hear about how the 5 people you spend the most time with determines your success. I have noticed that having people working toward the same goals as you, can get you cause you to get in motion and stay on track. For instance, I had a friend who worked close to full-time during my senior year of high school.
During the summer after high school, I found myself working more hours at my job, and I would think of her. It helped me realize that I can go further than what I was doing. After high school, we lost touch, and my motivation to work more than an extra hour or two at my part-time job decreased significantly.
The problem with 5 people/small group being the key to your success is that we have different areas in our life with goals that differ from your 5 people. One way to categorize the various goals in our life are financial, social, career, health, family, etc. For a family goal, we might measure success by spending each evening talking with family members in a way that strengthening our bond with them while for a career goal, we may want to land a paid internship in our field. That is not even mentioning the other goals we may have for the other categories.
So, how do we use the concept of the “top 5 people” to help us achieve our most important goals in a variety of categories?
What type of circle do we want?
For some, having a general group of people that know how to reach their goals and are willing to work for it works well. Having best friends/super close family members that have discipline, time management skills, and self-motivation would fall under this category. Even though the entire group has various goals, being around ambitious people can inspire you.
How to make your circles?
Discover where the resources and people you want to hang out are. For example, when it comes to resources, look for websites, books, and videos about what you’re interested in. Joining meet-ups and looking at upcoming events is great to start making an in-person connection. You can also establish a bond with people online through Facebook groups, Linkedin groups, forums, etc.
Structured or Unstructured?
The mere exposure effect is effective. Incorporate meeting interacting with your new group regularly. This means you have to decide if you want to meet up to be more structured or unstructured. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. Choosing a more structured approach means you’ll have to be more organized in setting time aside, but it will help you stay consistent. On the other hand, an unstructured approach will give you more flexibility and allow you to see what works.
Taking Action
Don’t wait! Take action on meeting people or information that inspire you. It might take time, but you’ll notice a huge difference in what you can accomplish once you do. Get rid of any perfectionism you have and just focus on the process. If you don’t like the circles you are developing, there is no harm in starting over. The most important part is that you keep building ones that help enrich your life.
