Jim Rohn once said “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”  Dave Ramsey said it a little more bluntly “stupid attracts stupid.”  Both of these quotes really do convey an important message. 

• Here is a little exercise to test this theory: 1. Think back to a time where you were the best version of yourself.  Who were the five people you spent the most time with and how did they help you succeed?  2.  Think back to the low point of your life.  Who were the five people you spent the most time with and how did they contribute to those events.  3.  Think about your current top five people and ask yourself how your current trajectory looks?  Is there someone that needs to be removed or someone that you should spend more time around?  
• The true power of the five is to help keep you on course.  What ever course you are on, the right five can help keep and guide you on that path.  Too often we get too busy looking at only the results instead of the process.  It is the long term process that will produce results at the end of the day.  Use your five people to help keep you accountable to the process.  Everyone knows what it looks like to clean your room, half way through it looks worse than when you started but if you keep working at it, there comes a point where you start to see the progress.
• Never let a negative thought enter your mind, it will take control.  Be careful in your core group of five people to not let in a “negative Nancy” or an “energy vampire”.  These two people can kill your soul and ambition before you even realize that it is happening.
• Try not to be the smartest person in the room.  If you are, you should try to find another room to help keep yourself growing and moving forward.  In sports when people practice they always try to practice against people that are better than they are so they can improve and rise up to the challenge.  The other way you can add some additional wisdom into your life is to use either books or podcasts on a regular basis to be an extra “person” in your life.  Anything that can act as inspiration to achieve more or become a better person.  Every morning I listen to a podcast called EOFire with John Lee Dumas on my morning drive and this is what fuels me up for the day.  This one podcast has dramatically improved my daily mindset. 
• As leaders we need to make sure that we are setting the standard and always trying to raise the bar for others.  Some people spend more time at work than they do at home so we need to make sure that we are the part of their “five” that makes them better.
• Challenge yourself to look at who you spend the most time around.  Are they helping you become a better version of yourself or do they end up holding you back?  Your top five should help you become more grateful, more focused, more accountable and most importantly they should help you build positive momentum in your life.