You are the Sum of your Best Friends

 

The Terman study followed over a thousand people from youth until death. Here’s what the researchers had to say about whom to hang out with: 

“The groups you associate with often determine the type of person you become. For people who want improved health, association with other healthy people is usually the strongest and most direct path of change.”

In his book, “The Power of Habit”, Charles Duhigg references a 1994 Harvard study of other people who had dramatically changed their lives. Often their secret wasn’t momentous upheaval. It was just joining a group that consisted of the type of people they wanted to become.

So choose these groups wisely. 

(Excerpt from “Barking Up The Wrong Tree: The Surprising Science Behind Why Everything You Know About Success is [Mostly] Wrong” by Eric Baker)

The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said:

الرَّجُلُ عَلَى دِينِ خَلِيلِهِ فَلْيَنْظُرْ أَحَدُكُمْ مَنْ يُخَالِلُ

“A man follows the religion of his close friend; so let everyone be mindful of whom he takes as his close friend.” (Abu Daud, At-Tirmidzi)

مَثَلُ الْجَلِيسِ الصَّالِحِ وَالْجَلِيسِ السَّوْءِ كَمَثَلِ صَاحِبِ الْمِسْكِ، وَكِيرِ الْحَدَّادِ، لاَ يَعْدَمُكَ مِنْ صَاحِبِ الْمِسْكِ إِمَّا تَشْتَرِيهِ، أَوْ تَجِدُ رِيحَهُ، وَكِيرُ الْحَدَّادِ يُحْرِقُ بَدَنَكَ أَوْ ثَوْبَكَ أَوْ تَجِدُ مِنْهُ رِيحًا خَبِيثَةً

"The example of a good companion (who sits with you) in comparison with a bad one, is like that of the seller of perfume and the blacksmith; 

From the first (seller of perfume) you would either buy musk or enjoy its good smell (by simply being in his company); 

while (hanging out with) the blacksmith would either burn your clothes or your house, or you get a bad nasty smell from being in his company." (Narrated by Al-Bukhari)