One of the greatest motivational speakers and self help gurus Jim Rohn once said “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” This is very true!

Many psychological studies confirm that the people we spend a lot of time with affect our mood, our tastes, our beliefs and even our health. For example, a study conducted by scientists Nick Christakis and James Fowler showed that a person’s chances of becoming obese increased by 57% if he or she had a friend who became obese in a given time interval. Sociologists call this phenomenon “homophily” or social conformity.

If you doubt that other people can influence your behavior, attitudes, or your opinions imagine how hard it is to stick to your weight loss goal, when everyone around you is eating fatty foods. I will tell you from personal experience – it is a torture! Watching your co-worker dip freshly baked French fries into a cheesy sauce and making pleasurable sounds, is a test even the strongest of us can fail.

This social “conformity” principle is especially important in goal setting and goal getting. You may be the smartest and most goal-oriented individual around, but if you are constantly surrounded by pessimistic, fearful people, you will eventually start dragging yourself down into the whirlpool of their negativity.

If everyone around you tells you that something cannot be done, sooner or later it will become your unconscious belief too.

But social conformity is not necessarily a bad thing. It all depends on the people that you hang out with!

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