Sabotage or Support?

Chan Crawford
Jul 18, 2018
3 min read

People hardly ever seem to realize how much of an influence your social circle has on you. For some reason, people seem to think that they make their own decisions, without the influence of others. This is not true. No matter how strong we are, or how untouched we think we might be by the influence of our friends....it still remains a factor in our decision making.

Do you have friends who shoot down your efforts to improve yourself?

It might be very subtle. This is how it gets you. You might be going on a diet, and cutting out fried foods. Your friends might make a comment like "girl, I don't know how you do it, I love my fried chicken!". Next thing you know, you're tearing up a bucket of friend chicken, because you friend reminded you of how delicious it tastes.

Now imagine you had a friend who was on the diet with you. They constantly made comments like "I love how much more energy I have, now that I cut fried foods out of my diet". Then you start to pay more attention to how its affecting your body as well, and you feel more motivated than ever, to keep fried foods out of your life for good.

See the subtlety there? See how the little things our loved ones say, can affect the way we think about things. And in turn, it affects what we do.

My Challenge To You

I want you to think about the goals you've been setting for yourself today. I want you to think about the people you have around you, and consider if they've been supportive of your goal achievement. Or have they been subconsciously getting in your head and sabotaging your goals in that way?

Think about when you talk about your goals, or mention your ideas to them. Do they cheer you on? Do they excuse themselves so that they can be supportive of your efforts (like not eating friend chicken in your face, or drinking alcohol in front of someone who wants to quit).

If you suspect they might be sabotaging your efforts, make a change. Plan around it.

You don't have to go out to eat with them, if they are always joking about diets, or they tempt you by eating what you love, when you're trying to avoid it. You don't have to talk about your goals with them, if you feel they may say something negative about it, or subconsciously plant negative thoughts in your mind.

Get around people that care!

Sure your circle cares about you and your goals. They just might not know how to show it without accidentally throwing you off course. So get around people who are aiming for the same goals as yourself. Watch how their positive ideas affect you, and keep pushing toward the right decisions. You'll be surprised how much this actually can change your outlook, and how effective it can be in helping you accomplish you goals.

They say that you are a reflection of the closest 5 people around you. If none of your closest 5 friends are going in the direction you are, or have the same mindset towards progress, you should consider making new friends.

I know it sounds a little harsh, but these goals take commitment, effort, blood, sweat, tears. You really can't afford to keep being held back by your social influences. Any element you can change to make success easier, should be taken.

At what cost are you willing to go for your dreams?

If at no or little cost, is it really worth having?

So sacrifice sometimes comes in this form. But believe that whatever you let go of, because it isn't serving you well, will return a reward much greater than what you walked away from.

So make a change, my friend.

Go for your goal, and do what you need to do! Get your blessings, and reach your dreams!