Whether in your business, family, wider social circles, or the adventure into your real life, without good, healthy relationships, you and your endeavours will never reach the heights you dream of.
Yet, especially when it comes to the adventure stepping into your real life and become the real, authentic version of you, all too often you find yourself walking a lonely path.
As you rock the status quo and become who you are meant to be, you throw down a challenge to all who brush against you. A few will rise to it, but most will run for the hills, leaving you alone in your victories and failures, your highs and lows.
And, no matter how much you may value time alone, that’s a problem. Because the longer you spend walking that lonely path—despite your best efforts and determination—the less successful and fulfilled you will be.
I love my solitude—I often seek it out and protect it fiercely. When I’m tucked away on my own, I’m productive; I can think and develop ideas. But then comes a time when solitude begins to bug me. I lose focus, become less productive, and negativity starts to eat away at my thoughts.
When that time comes, I need to be around people.
The simple fact is that, however much you may like your own space, you don’t function well if you spend too long in isolation.
But why? What does company give you that being alone does not?
One thing company gives you is perspective. You give perspective to, and receive it from, the people around you.
Good company also helps you uncover and retain your true identity, giving you a framework for the world around you and the life you lead.
But if you are going to find your true identity from the people around you, not just anyone will do. You need to pick your company carefully and deliberately.
It’s common sense: some people can be really good people, but really bad company. Where good company builds you up, encourages you and carries you forward, bad company drags you down. Where good company leads you out of isolation, bad company pushes you into desolation.
Too often we make poor choices in the company we keep. But if you are going to flourish—if you are going to be your best self—you need to ensure that you keep only good company.
What does that look like? How do you recognise good company?
Good company isn’t one-dimensional, focused only on what you do—it wonders who you are. It doesn’t only give to you but looks to receive from you. It longs to build relationship.
Good company shares your interests but reaches far beyond them. It looks past your shortcomings to find your strengths. It’s prepared to say ‘no’ or to ask ‘why?’. It smiles when you win and is saddened when you lose.
It returns clarity to a blurred perspective, sees things you don’t, and takes you to places where you can admire the view.
Good company is flexible yet firm. It creates a scaffold around you within which you can build.
It holds you to account, keeps you honest, stretches your boundaries and nudges you forward.
Find the people who embody these elements and you will find good company. You may find them among friends, colleagues, or even in chance encounters, but wherever you find them, you need good company, and it needs you.
So today, make it a priority to find it, cherish it, and surround yourself with it. You future depends on it.
