The people we surround ourselves with impact us whether we notice it or not. I’m completing an exercise to determine which traits I’m exposed to regularly, and how those traits line up with who I’m trying to be as a person.
Five traits I want to improve and enhance are thoughtfulness, optimism, leadership, faith, and patience.
I don’t think a person can be too thoughtful, and one can always have more faith and patience. Optimism is vital for most work environments. Leadership and or decisiveness is a stress reliver in uncertain situations.
“You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time around.” -Jim Rohn
Let’s take a look at my circles.
This one’s tricky for me. The people I spend the most time with are my family and my co-workers. That’s the majority of my social interaction right now.
However, they bring a lot to the table.
1. My Mom: Patience
I don’t know where I’d be without her steadfast support. Her patience with me throughout my life inspires me daily. She reminds me to pause and consider angles I wouldn’t have looked at otherwise.
2. My Brother: Optimism
His optimism reminds me to look on the bright side when my realist tendencies blind me to the good of a situation. His strength of character rallies my confidence, and he helps me look for the silver linings.
Optimism is a trait I work on every day.
3. My Managers: Leadership
I’m fortunate to work with awesome people. My managers kindness and guidance have been invaluable, and I hope to provide a similar version of it for the people I work with in the future. I strive to bring that level of calm and leadership into life.
4. My Co-workers: Thoughtfulness
They remind me to laugh a little, lighten up. Each of them offer great traits but since I’m only providing five, I’ll go with thoughtful. I’m always trying to be more aware of how my actions are affecting others. They remind me that it’s okay to need a hand every now and then.
5. My Lifelong Friend: Faith
My long-distance best friend impacts me with her rational thought processes, encouragement, and loyalty. She reminds me to turn to God when I’m feeling hopeless and less-then-so.
Relationships of any kind require effort and intention. Fostering a well-balanced friendship with her keeps me working on my faith as well as thoughtfulness.
What am I missing?
For the most part, my circles line up with the traits I most want to improve on. This is surprising to me, and means I need to expand my scope to seek out more opportunities to enhance traits I’m less accustomed with.
This exercise has been interesting, and I’ll be looking at the people in my life through a clearer lens because of it.
Each person has positives and negatives, and we should all be mindful of which traits we’re pouring into the ones around us.
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