Are toxic people lowering your elevation average?
Jim Rohn once wrote, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”
If true, let me ask you this: As you evaluate who you spent time with this past year, what effect has that investment had on you?
Are you more inspired; more supported now than you were when you began the year? Or have you succumbed to the toxic attitudes of others, those victims of circumstance who always have a complaint at the ready?
To be sure, we can never be fully insulated from toxic people. There will always be high-maintenance types among us, especially in highly dysfunctional family systems. But we can limit our exposure by setting appropriate boundaries and girding ourselves with truth when they seek to diminish us.
Take a look at your circle of influence. Write down the names of the five people you spend the most time with. For each one, decide if you are elevated or diminished by them? These questions may help you find out:
- Are you inspired when you are with them? Are they excited about their future and express excitement about yours?
- Are they an advocate for you, seeking ways to help you achieve your aspirations?
- Are they committed to their own growth and change, leaning into the things that challenge them?
- Do they excel in an attribute you want to get better at?
- Do they demonstrate genuine care for others?
All of us can improve our average by intentionally spending time with Elevation Masters; those who inspire us. More importantly, you and I can also improve the average of others by dispensing with toxins and becoming Elevation Masters ourselves. I love how Goethe put it, “Treat a man as he appears to be, and you make him worse. But treat a man as if he already were what he potentially could be, and you make him what he should be.”
Remember, you’re responsible for who influences you. As you set your goals for the new year, think about what you can do to improve your elevation average.
Comment below: What are other signs of those who elevate another?
