Why Surrounding Yourself With the Right People Matters.
The Obsession
Edition - 015
Welcome to The Obsession, glad you’re here.
Here’s something you probably already know: surround yourself with people who build you up, who you can learn from, and who challenge you.
But I also believe this advice can never be repeated enough. At the end of the day, the inputs we have (work, social media, friends, culture, environment) are what form us into the person we become.
The right people sharpen you.
The wrong people slowly dull you.
Below is what I’ve learned from the three main groups of people in my life:
friends and family
work colleagues and clients
mentors and inspirations
Friends and Family
I was blessed with an incredible family. They guided me in a lot of ways that, looking back, helped me make what seem like good decisions.
But after reflecting on it, one of the biggest things they did for me wasn’t just what they taught me directly, it was the people they surrounded themselves with.
Growing up we always had people over, or we were at someone else’s house. I got to see real friendships up close. People building each other up. Families supporting families. You absorb that without realizing it.
And I think that shaped the way I built friendships.
Some of my closest friends are from middle school through college. Our group is tight, and we do three things consistently: we build each other up, we keep each other accountable, and we challenge each other.
I genuinely believe those guys have helped shape who I am more than almost anything else.
Work
There’s a statistic that says you spend more time with your coworkers than your family. Whether that’s true for you or not doesn’t really matter. What matters is this:
you spend a lot of time around the people you work with, and they influence you, whether you realize it or not.
For me, I don’t sit in an office every day. Most of my time is spent with clients. And typically, a client is someone who’s older, smarter, and more successful than me. That’s not a bad group of people to learn from.
It keeps me curious. It forces me to level up. It makes me pay attention to how high performers think, communicate, and make decisions.
My advice here is simple: make sure your job puts you around people you can learn from, people you respect, people who challenge you, and people who raise your standards. Because if your environment is average, it’s hard not to drift toward average.
Mentors and Inspirations
I’ve had a few mentors who have helped me in my career so far, from big picture decisions to intricate situations. And I honestly believe mentorship is one of the fastest ways to turn your career into a launchpad.
These are people I aspire to be like one day. When they give me advice, I take it seriously.
And I also think mentorship looks different today because we have access to more information and content than ever before. You can learn from people you’ve never met. But there’s a catch:
you have to be intentional about who you listen to.
Pay attention to the voices you engage with the most. If you consistently respect the way they think, live, and operate, lean into it. Study them. Take notes. Apply what fits. Ignore what doesn’t.
Because even “inspiration” is a form of surrounding yourself.
Everyone’s situation is different, so there are caveats to all of this. But I think there are two things worth remembering:
First: surround yourself with the people who make you better.
Second: don’t just collect advice, find a way to apply it to your life.
Because the right people don’t just motivate you.
They change your standards.
The Weekly 3
1) One Question I Asked Myself
Who am I becoming based on the people I’m consistently around?
2) One Idea That Shifted Me
Your environment isn’t neutral, it’s training you.
3) One Challenge to Take Into Your Week
Pick one relationship “bucket” (friends/family, work, mentors). Make one move this week to improve it, reach out, schedule time, ask a question, or put yourself in a better room.
