We are constantly being influenced by the things around us and our friends are no exception. Simply put, your Friends have the ability to influence not only your emotions, but every aspect of your life including your Mindset. Do you have that friend that can motivate you, or make you smile when you don't feel like it. Or how about that friend that no matter what you say or do nothing is ever good enough. Think about how these friends make you feel. I am sure that there have been times when you have consulted with a Friend before making an important decision. We are social by nature and because of this we crave interactions with others even if it's not in our best interest. Because we can be influenced in so many ways there are nearly an unlimited amount of ways it can impact our health. So, lets look more in-depth at how this can affect our health and well-being.
How toxic relationships affect your mental health
In a previous article we used the famous quote "You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with" to give a simple explanation of how we are affected by our environment. Lets continue on with the examples to really understand how this impacts us. Imagine for a minute that you now have 5 new best friends that you spend the majority of your time with. Lets say these new 5 friends are were all self-made Billionaires. What changes do you think you would see in your life and do you think?
For starters being around Billionaire may open up opportunities that you may otherwise not have seen. The books you read, courses you take, even the food you eat may all change. The biggest change would be in the mindset. A lot of Billionaires, especially self-made, have what is called a growth mindset. Basically they believe that our abilities are not fixed and with hard work you can learn, achieve, and do anything. Adopting this mindset could transform the way you look at your life.
Now lets look at another example. Imagine that the 5 closest friends were very negative people. People who focus on only the worst life has to offer. How do you think this would change your view point. Gradually, you would adopt their mindset and start focusing only on thee negatives of life. Both these examples highlight how important it is to surround yourself with people represent who you want to become.
If I can be influenced then can’t I influence others?
The answer is ABSOLUTELY! You have the power to influence others, but it becomes harder and harder if your entire inner circle (the 5 closest people) are all negative. To understand why lets use an example of a Bus. Pretend you are the driver of the bus and all your friends are the passengers. Everyone is heading to a different address in different cities in opposite directions. Each time you make a stop you burn gas. Eventually, if you don’t stop you are going to run out of gas. Even if you get everyone to where they are going without filling the tank you won’t be able to get yourself home.
What’s the lesson? Well, each time you help someone you are burning gas and if you don’t take are of your mindset you can run out of gas. Simply put, you need to recharge yourself before you can help others. And, a lot of the time negative people can become a drain on us physically, emotionally, and mentally.
What do the experts say about Friendship and our Health?
There has been strong evidence to support the impacts our friends have on our health. For example, “A three-year Swedish study of more than 13,600 men and women found that having few or no close friends increased the risk of having a first-time heart attack by about 50 percent”. - healthday.com
The impacts extend beyond just our heart. Another study published in 2008 found an interesting link between our stress and also weight with our friends. The “study published in Hormones and Behavior found that friends who talk excessively about problems can actually ramp up each other's stress levels. And while friendships generally help encourage us to make healthy lifestyle choices, some friendships have the opposite effect. A famous study that followed over 12,000 people for 32 years found that a person's risk of becoming overweight increased 57 percent if a close friend became overweight”. - healthday.com
So as we can see there is a clear link between our health and friendship.
What can you do to improve the affects of friends on your well-being
- Get Ride Of Friends Who Bring You Down
This is the hardest thing to do but it can be the best thing you ever do in your life. It’s hard to let go of Friends especially if they have been there for a long time. But, nothing is worth sacrificing your health. If someone is bringing you down, you need to ask yourself, why do you want them in your life.
- Surround yourself with friends who have the mindset you want to adopt
Now that you have gotten ride of those friends, you need to find new ones. As you have seen just by surrounding yourself with friends who have and think the way you want to, you can transform your life. At minimum, seeing their point of view can really expand your mind. Now the friends don’t need to be local, for example if you are looking at starting a business, join groups or masterminds where you can connect with others of like mind.
- Read, Listen, or Watch content from people who have the mindset you want to adopt
With our bus example you can see that we all need a source that can recharge us. This is something we all need to do daily. Find sometime during the day to help recharge your mindset. I personally do this each and everyday and it has helped to transform my life and my relationships. The best part is that it really starts to work on the subconscious mind to become a part of who you are.
We can help refill your emotional tank
You have now learned how impactful your friends can be on your health and well-being. Just like the bus we all need to fill our tank and we are here to help. Subscribe to our email list to receive new articles, motivational quotes, and other resources designed to help you become your best self. Subscribe today.