“Surround yourself with people who make you happy. People who make you laugh, who help you when you’re in need. People who genuinely care. They are the ones worth keeping in your life. Everyone else is just passing through.” ~ Karl Marx

People have the biggest impact on your life. With this in mind, you should choose wisely who you spend your time with. I am truly blessed to have so many amazing people in my life. I can think of countless examples where I have felt a bit low and one of my friends has cheered me up, I have felt a bit lost and someone has been there to help me find direction, I have felt uninspired and someone I know has inspired me, I need advice and have countless people around to chat to, I need reassurance and my friends are there ready to give me the strength I require.

Some people can be what I like to refer to as ‘Dementors‘, those characters from Harry Potter that literally suck the life out of you. They drain you of your energy and your happiness. If you spend time with them, you can often come home feeling flat and exhausted. They seem to take the fun out of everything and put a dampner on things you are excited about. You would have been better off sitting inside in a dark room, on your own, eating junk food and watching terrible TV than spending time in their company!!

Then there are the kind of people that will inspire you, motivate you, encourage you, uplift you,  cheer you on when things are going well and support you even when times are tough. When I spend time with these sort of people I find myself skipping home with a big smile on my face, ready to take over the world!

The people that you chose to spend your time with are so important for the following reasons:

1) Inspiration

When you get an insight into what brilliant people are doing, you listen to their ideas, plans, successes and views of the world it can give you courage to try things out for yourself. It can make you feel like anything is possible and that you can reach your dreams and make them become a reality. When I spend time with positive people I often feel inspired. I find that I come away with lots of ideas of things I want to explore, investigate, implement and focus my time on. I feel excited about what is possible after I spend time with inspiring people.

2) Action

You can really make things happen with the right people at your side encouraging you. Rather than talking about all your grand plans, and dreaming of what ‘could be’ one day in the future, you can start taking immediate action towards achieving your life vision. When things have previously seemed impossible, spending time with awesome people, can often be what you need to start to see the way forward. This is especially powerful when you see someone you look up to taking action. You might be able to see how you can do the same. When I interact with people who inspire me, I often come home totally pumped full of ideas of things I want to get started on. Ideas I have been thinking about for a while, but not known how to start suddenly seem possible and the first step to achieve them can be taken.

3) Motivation

Spending time with remarkable people can motivate you. When I hang out with inspirational people, I usually come away feeling highly motivated. Motivated to take action, motivated to make changes I’d like to implement, and just generally feeling a positive buzz about life and plans.

4) Idea creation

If you are spending time with people in a similar field to you or with similar interests or mindset, you can get ideas from them. It may be ideas about how to behave, how to set up your own business, how to follow your passion, how to live life in general or any topic at all. I find the more I surround myself with people that are interested in the same things as me, the more I learn and the more ideas I have about what I want to pursue in life. Ideas can range from big life changing visions, to small changes you want to implement.

5) Energy

If you have low energy, don’t reach for a can of red bull, spend time with someone you find remarkable! Energy is infectious. Your energy will be uplifted in no time if you are hanging out with positive, motivated high energy individuals.

6) Happiness

Quite simply, when you spend time with awesome people it will make you feel happier. Awesome people have a tendency to make you feel awesome too.

When you’re surrounded by great people it will have a positive impact on your life. If you haven’t done this already, analyse who you are spending your time with and how they are making you feel. Start spending more time with the great people in your life and less time with people that do not make you happy.

I’d love to hear in the comments below what impact surrounding yourself with awesome people has on your life.