What are your goals in life? Do you want to be happy? Healthy? Successful? I think those are general goals for most people. Of course, everyone has more specific variations and additions to these, but generally speaking most people want to get better, be better, and improve throughout life. In order to do that, you have to surround yourself with people who will help get you there. Jim Rohn is right “you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”

For the purposes of this blog post we’re going to focus exclusively on happiness. It is a hell of a lot easier to be happy if you surround yourself with happy and positive people. Think about it- when you’re around negative people it’s easy to pick up their negativity. It naturally rubs off on you. Sometimes, you can “stay strong” and preserve your own positive attitude even in the midst of negative people, but it’s hard. A much easier solution is to not put yourself in the situation to begin with. We’ve all heard this lesson before in the context of peer pressure and avoiding the potential to make bad decisions, but, beyond that, it really does affect every aspect of your life. You become a product of those you surround yourself with in every way.

I’m not saying you should completely abandon your friends who are “Debbie downers” or “negative Nancys.” But manage the time you spend with them. And know they aren’t going to provide you with happy positive vibes so maybe you should share some of your positivity with them…bring their average up!

It’s time to put yourself and your circle of friends under the microscope. Who are the 5 people you spend the most time with. Are those people positive, “glass half full,” happy people. Do they practice habits that cultivate happiness? If they do, figure out how you can spend even more time with them. If they don’t, it may be time to cut back on the time you spend with them.

Life is too short to spend a lot of time with people who suck the happiness out of you. Find people who make you a happier person. Find people who inspire you to be better. Find people who have achieved the goals you want to achieve and spend more time with those people.