LifeHacker linked to an article about motivation and highlighted one particular one. #3 Socialize with others of similar interest. Mutual support is motivating. We will develop the attitudes of our five best friends. If they are losers, we will be a looser. If they are winners, we will be a winner. To be a cowboy we must associate with cowboys. Despite the glaring and very annoying grammatical error, I must say I generally agree with the sentiment.

I've noticed that who you associate with has a lot to do with who you become, what you wish for, what your goals are, and how you spend your days. Being surrounded by your kind of people is crucial. More so than you might imagine. And I mean physically surrounded by. People you go out to lunch with. People you see relatively regularly. When I lived in New York, the people I saw on a day-to-day basis were very different from each other. The people I worked with at TFA would never categorize themselves with the investment bankers or the bookstore people I regularly saw. Despite being so different, every single person I was around was interesting, intellectually stimulating and offered a lot to learn from. I loved that. I soaked up everything around me. Everyone's knowledge. Everyone's excitement. In my environment, it was rare to run into someone who wasn't someone you'd want to know.

That environment made me want to become a more interesting person. It challenged me. It motivated me. And I didn't realize how much until I left it. I didn't understand how much of it I was taking for granted. I do now. I think I did realize it relatively quickly after we moved to San Diego, but I didn't understand the depth of the difference until recently.

The people around you, the place where you work, the friends you have can electrify you. They can make you feel that you can change the world. Move mountains. They can make you feel like you're excellent, deserving, inspiring. They can bring out the very best in you and help you reach all your unrealized potential.

People around you can also bring out the worst in you. They can make you petty, jealous, shallow. Lazy. They can make you scared of yourself and unsure of your abilities.

Next time you pick a new friend, a new job, a new surrounding, remember this: whom you associate with determines the person you become.