There are conflicting views on the types of people that you should surround yourself with but here are my views. Some people may tell you to surround yourself with like minded people with similar aims whilst others will tell you this will keep you close minded and you should hang around with a diverse group of people. Each has it’s own benefits but which way you go depends on your situation.

Of course there are certain people that you shouldn’t surround yourself with: lawbreakers and people that detract from your progress either purposefully or not. If you are trying to advance your life then you want people that are going to make it easier not harder, so in your life you need to get rid of those kinds of people. Studies have shown that you become who you surround yourself with, hang out with fat people and become fat, hang out with lazy people and you will become lazy. Have in your mind exactly who you want to be and you will know who to avoid and who to hang out with, but this is not specific enough.

People with the same views and aims as you are great for getting work done and for achieving your targets because when you team up your productivity goes through the roof. Like minded people will make sure that you stay on track, they will pull you forward rather than hold you back. These are the people that you want to go into business with because you know that they will form it into a business that you want to be part of. Like minded people can come in the form of mentors that you want to be like or peers that you want to partner up with. Great for getting work done when you have a set goal.

But you need diversity in the people that surround yourself. Diverse people are the key to new ideas and creativity and chances are you will learn something from every new person that you meet. That is the one drawback to like minded people, they don’t inspire new ways of thinking because they think in the same ways as you. People that have different views and opinions will give you a new perspective on life (even if you do have some conflict now and again). When you hang with these sorts of people will depend on what your aims are in life. If you have no idea what to do then I would suggest meeting new people that are nothing like you, collect as much knowledge as you can from lots of different people so you can find your path. These people are also useful for solving problems that you are having in your life because of the new perspective that they give you. A fresh outlook is sometimes just what you need.

So in conclusion avoid anyone who is detrimental to your life, join up with diverse people to get knowledge and ideas and team up with like minded people to quickly achieve any goals that you set yourself.