Surround Yourself with Great People | Positive Influences for Happier Life

Do you know people that are constantly negative? Don’t smile, or laugh easily? They see the glass half full all of the time. Do you follow those people on your social media? It is easy to get sucked into that environment if we aren’t careful. Surround yourself with great people; it is these positive influences that lead to a happier life.

How resilient you are by the influences of others will vary from person to person. There are people that just ooze sunshine all of the time. I personally am in awe of these people. They seem to be always happy and bring light into the world where ever they go.

Then you meet other people that are constantly negative and find a way to let everyone know that the world sucks and we are all doomed. It doesn’t matter what good things happen to them, it justs makes them more suspicious that something bad will come of it.

Then there are us inbetweeners. We are the people that love life and want to live a happier life, but sometimes get sucked down by all of the negative in the world. We have to be very careful who we let influence us.

The Ripple Effect

Psychologist, Dr. Mirgain, has studied the effects of positive and negative influence on people. The studies have proven that positive people affect the happiness of those around them by three degrees of separation. That means that when people are happy they not only positively affect their friends, but also those people’s friends.

Mirgain also found that negative influences had a much bigger impact on others. Negative influences are 4-7 times more damaging than a positive influence is helpful. This means that a negative comment will reach far more people than a positive one will.

Dr. Mirgain believes this ripple effect not only effects how we personally feel, but how our friends and family feel as well.

Controlling our Ripple Effect

Everyone has the ability to chose to be happy. However, it is harder when we are surrounded by negative influences. The only way we can move toward a happier life is to find positive influences and surround ourselves with those people.

To do this you need to look for people that inspire you to be better.

If you like to read, find authors that will challenge your way of thinking and inspire you to better your life.

Look for people that bring joy into your life.

Seek out people that understand how to embrace their fears and look at their own weaknesses as opportunities.

Find people that practice gratitude and compassion.

Create healthy boundaries when you are around negative influences. These may be family or friends, making it difficult to cut them out of your life completely. However, you can learn to distance yourself from them enough to create a healthy boundary. By doing this, you are controlling your ripple effect.

It is important to control your own ripple effect and how to others affect you. When you start feeling down, then look at the people you are surrounding yourself with or what messages you are reading in the media (social media included).

Surround yourself with great people and look for positive influences that help you grow. Empower yourself to be a better person, living a happier life. Don’t forget to take the time to connect with the positive influences in your life, and you will lead a happier life.

Recommended Reading

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If you are looking for books to help stretch your way of thinking, here are a few of the books that have helped me.

Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy

In the past, a woman’s spirituality has been separated from her lifestyle. Simple Abundance shows you how your daily life can be an expression of your authentic self … as you choose the tastiest vegetables from your garden, search for treasures at flea markets, establish a sacred space in your home for meditation, and follow the rhythm of the seasons and the year. Here, for the first time, the mystical alchemy of style and Spirit is celebrated. Every day, your own true path leads you to a happier, more fulfilling and contented way of life.

The Art of Happiness

Through conversations, stories, and meditations, the Dalai Lama shows us how to defeat day-to-day anxiety, insecurity, anger, and discouragement. Together with Dr. Howard Cutler, he explores many facets of everyday life, including relationships, loss, and the pursuit of wealth, to illustrate how to ride through life’s obstacles on a deep and abiding source of inner peace. Based on 2,500 years of Buddhist meditations mixed with a healthy dose of common sense, The Art of Happiness is a book that crosses the boundaries of traditions to help readers with difficulties common to all human beings.

The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck

Manson makes the argument, backed both by academic research and well-timed poop jokes, that improving our lives hinges not on our ability to turn lemons into lemonade, but on learning to stomach lemons better. Human beings are flawed and limited—”not everybody can be extraordinary, there are winners and losers in society, and some of it is not fair or your fault.” Manson advises us to get to know our limitations and accept them. Once we embrace our fears, faults, and uncertainties, once we stop running and avoiding and start confronting painful truths, we can begin to find the courage, perseverance, honesty, responsibility, curiosity, and forgiveness we seek.

There are only so many things we can give a f**k about so we need to figure out which ones really matter, Manson makes clear. While money is nice, caring about what you do with your life is better, because true wealth is about experience. A much-needed grab-you-by-the-shoulders-and-look-you-in-the-eye moment of real-talk, filled with entertaining stories and profane, ruthless humor, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is a refreshing slap for a generation to help them lead contented, grounded lives.

Redefining Success

Redefining Success details how W. Brett Wilson was forced to redefine his life, making health and key relationships his first priorities. Through trial and error, he discovered that these simple virtues are foundations for real, enduring success, both in business and in life. Wilson’s compelling insights are the basis for Redefining Success. Not just for entrepreneurs and business people, the book outlines how we can change our lives for the better by re-evaluating our personal definitions of success, then reworking them into a life plan that is feasible, lasting, and rewarding. Inspirational and paradigm-changing, Redefining Success will help you implement and sustain lasting, positive change in your life—and make your world a little more meaningful—every day.

Warrior Goddess Training

It’s no secret that women today are juggling a lot. We now make up more than half the workforce in the United States and are busier than ever with partners, children, family, and friends, often putting the needs of others ahead of our own.

And if we feel overwhelmed by it all or fall short of perfection, many of us have learned to be our own worst critic rather than our own best friend.

In Warrior Goddess Training, bestselling author HeatherAsh Amara provides the antidote to the flawed idea that you are not enough.

Direct, honest, and unapologetic, Amara will show you how to release the layers of expectations to finally see yourself for the authentic, perceptive, perfect woman you really are.

If you don’t love and honor yourself with every fiber of your being, if you struggle with owning your power and passion, if you could use more joyful play and simple presence in your life, then it is time for an inner revolution.

It is time to claim your Warrior Goddess energy.

Drawing on the wisdom from Buddhism, Toltec wisdom, and ancient Earth-based goddess spirituality, the Warrior Goddess path includes personal stories, rituals, and exercises that will encourage and inspire you to become the true warrior goddess you are meant to be.