Don’t Be the Smartest Person in the Room — Stand Next to Them
The fastest way to get what you want
The fastest way to get what you want is to be around the people who already have it.
When you hang out with fit people, you’ll work out more. If you want to make a million-dollar deal, meet with people who make million-dollar deals. This may sound obvious and, yes, we’ve all heard the saying that “you are the average of the five people around you.”
Yet, in our quests for money, love, and happiness, we often spend most of our energy trying to change ourselves rather than our environment. We worry too much about the incremental changes we can make — and too little about how much the people in our proximity will rub off on us.
Take intelligence, for example. We all want to feel smart. We want confidence, respect from others, and, let’s be honest, the occasional smug face to indulge in. There are two common strategies we use to try and attain these feelings.
The first is to work really hard to improve whatever combination of natural giftedness and acquired knowledge you have. You can learn new things in your spare time, stay up to date on your industry, and play games that’ll keep your mind sharp.
