Who You Spend Time With Is Who You Become

Your habits determine your life.

But what determines your habits?

You might want to say they come from within. But you know that’s only part of the story.

The other part is that your habits come from other people. Their habits rub off on you. It’s hard to see because it happens gradually. But you’ve probably noticed how you pick up people’s laughs, mannerisms, and speech patterns after spending time with them.

Is it a big leap to imagine that you'd pick up their habits, too? What they eat, how they live, how they think.

The people around you shape your habits. And if your habits shape your life, and the people around you shape your habits—then selecting those people is especially important.

What if you picked people not just based on whether you could tolerate them—but on whether you could tolerate becoming them?

Are the people around you happy? Successful? Wise? Hardworking?

Do they do great work? Live healthily? Make lots of money? Practice kindness? Are their goals high? Do they even have goals?

Do you admire them? Enough to become them, at least partially?

If you aren't ready to become them, it’s time to change the people before they change you.

Why is it so socially inconvenient to do just that? Because most people aren’t willing to sacrifice to live extraordinary lives.

They aim for convenience, not impact. And that’s okay. For them.

If you want to be an anomaly, though, you’ve got to act like one first.

You can do that by surrounding yourself with people who are anomalies.

These people are more accessible than ever thanks to the internet. You can spend time with them by listening to their thoughts via YouTube, podcasts, blog posts, and books. You can study who they are, what they do, and how they think.

You can try to embody their admirable traits. It can even happen naturally through repeated exposure.

When you choose who surrounds you, you choose who you become over time.

So choose wisely. Who do you want to become?