When we hear about healthy eating, we often think about eating beneficial foods to take care of our physical health. But… do we think about the social food we are taking every day? Are we surrounding ourselves with the right people from whom we also feed ourselves?

Just as we are concerned with taking care of our diet and food for good physical health, we have to think about another fundamental food that we nourish ourselves with without being too aware of it: people.

The importance of social relations

Just as there are foods that are harmful to our health and others that are beneficial and our diet should be based on their consumption, the same is true for human beings. These are part of the food we consume every day, so our “social diet” or “social eating” must be based on surrounding ourselves with those that are a real contribution to us .

Make the next effort and think about the five people you spend the most time with. What are they like? Do you think there’s something of them in you? Think about who on that list adds to your life, who subtracts or just leaves you as they are; who will help you get to the next level you want to achieve. Do we want people to push us up or down?

If you want to achieve your goals, it will be essential to surround yourself with individuals who, in some way, help you to pursue those goals , and to get away from those who in no way add to you or much worse, subtract from you when it comes to achieving your objectives. Could someone who wants to overcome their drinking problem achieve it if their best friends had the same problem?

Every human being that passes through our lives in a more or less significant way leaves a kind of mark on us. Therefore, try to surround yourself with people who are role models for you, who already have what you want to achieve. If you want to be a more ambitious person who fights to achieve your goals, surround yourself with those who have already achieved or are achieving what they set out to do one day.

If you want to be a better person, surround yourself with those who do good. If you want to adopt a more optimistic attitude towards life, surround yourself with positive people . Artists surround themselves with artists, entrepreneurs with entrepreneurs, drinkers with drinkers…

The potential of the people around us: social feeding

People can awaken concerns, be motors of change, teach us and make us grow. Or, on the contrary, influence us negatively and suck our energy. Our choice is to choose the people we surround ourselves with and decide if we have to make big or small changes in our social life: if we have to spend more time on those who add and less on those who don’t or, if it is the case, to get away from those toxic people who take away our potential .

Whether we want to spend more time with individuals in our social circle or approach those who can help us get what we want, the key is to show a sincere interest in the lives of others. To do this, you will need to talk to them regularly so that the relationship is strengthened.

To improve your social skills, you will need to consider certain key points initially:

  • Learn to listen .
  • Learn how to compliment.
  • Ask and share experiences, feelings and opinions from assertiveness.
  • Don’t judge what they tell you.
  • Watch your body language to show interest.

Let’s not forget self-esteem

In addition to the above, to know how to surround oneself well and consciously choose our social circle one must first learn to be happy with oneself. If you don’t think about and respect yourself, you will hardly be able to build healthy relationships, because you will be looking for that which you lack in others in an unadaptive way . When, on the contrary, you know that your happiness does not depend on others, you become more aware of which relationships bring you and which do not, and you develop the ability to choose better the environment from which you feed yourself.

Therefore, you must learn to gain confidence in yourself and in the decisions you make, to accept yourself as you are and, when there is something you want to change, to work on your own personal development from respect. In short, you will have to learn to love yourself. Your self-esteem, inner strength and joy will be good allies to become a more attractive person and you will have more facility to approach whoever you propose.

To a greater or lesser extent, we like it more or less, that people influence us is a fact, either positively or negatively. We are social beings , and as such, we learn by vicarious (or observational) learning, that is, we learn by observing what others do; and we do so from a young age. The cognitive process that comes into play is the projection of oneself on the actions of others.

Don’t let chance decide for you which social circle you’re in. Be responsible for choosing who you will and will not feed on. Stay away from the toxic people who suck your energy and surround yourself with those who water and make the seeds you sow grow. From people who even sow other seeds in your own path for new sprouts to grow.