We are the average of the people we spend time with

Have you written down the names of 3-5 people you’d like to spend more time with this year?

Jim Rohn (the motivational speaker) famously noted that we’re the average of the five people we spend most time with. This applies to our development as human beings, and also reminds us to be intentional with our professional development. Early in my adventuring days, I spent a lot of time with Alastair Humphreys. We both now make a living from speaking and writing about adventure (though neither of us planned that originally).

This year, to help develop my business in the best way possible, I just wrote down three people who I know will help:

1. My speaking mentor: last year he taught me so much, unbelievably helpful!

2. A speaking peer: great for fun, brainstorming, and holding me accountable to good practice.

3. My business coach: an hour with my coach is expensive – but the money spent pays me back 5-10 times over. I should hang out with him more!

Writing down these names has focused me, and made me much more likely to see them.

Have you written down 3-5 people you want to spend more time with this year?

N.B. It’s also really important to think about this question for our personal lives, but in this blog I’m considering it for our  professional lives.