Nonproductive relationships
We become like the people with whom we associate. Period. End of story. We can’t escape it. We can’t change it. We can only recognize the power of the choices we make about the relationships that we build, and then be guided by that knowledge as we choose the people with whom we will invest our time and hearts and dreams. The people in our closest circles of relationship are the ones who will set the environment in which we will live.
If you have ever felt the pressure of friends who unknowingly influence you to be a lesser version of yourself, then you understand the power of this roadblock.
We can overcome the power of this roadblock by choosing to remember that it truly does make a difference. We can then carefully select the people with whom we associate, and we can nurture those relationships that move us along toward significance.
There are nonproductive relationships with things and activities as well. These might include what we watch, what we listen to, and what we read. As certainly as people can have a relationship with another human being, people can have a relationship with a video game or a television show.
We are wise if we begin to understand relationships in life mean something—in fact, they can mean almost everything. They affect us profoundly and we rise to the heights or fall to the depths of the relationships that we build.
Integral Development Forum 