Choose your friends
Choose your friends
Have you ever watched a flock of geese flying across the open sky?* They move in a huge V, each one in the slipstream (an area with lower pressure or less turbulence) of the one in front. Cyclists do it too, to make it easier and to help them go faster. Researchers estimate that in formation, the geese fly about 70% further in any given time than an individual bird would have done.
Now here’s a question for you: Are your friends flying in the same direction and towards the same destination as you are? Do they share your goals, your values, your priorities? If they do, you will support each other, and you will all get further with less stress and less effort.
If, on the other hand, you and your friends are aiming in different directions, you will find yourself constantly battling against the flow of their energy. You will tire yourself out and you may never reach your goal, instead being pulled off course by the power of the group.
Look back at your vision board and the goals you decided on (p. 8). Now complete the table below and think carefully about it. (We have filled in some examples, but yours can and will be different.)
| My goals | My friends’ goals |
| My degree in the minimum time | |
| Be fit and healthy | |
| My values | My friends’ values |
| Hard work | |
| Taking responsibility | |
| Kindness | |
| My priorities | My friends’ priorities |
| My family | |
| My studies |
You may have come a long way with these friends. You are not going to suddenly end a friendship. Just think about the roles that different people play in your life. Perhaps you want to spend less time with some of them and reach out to others who have not been part of your inner circle.
* Adapted from Lanette Hattingh and Heinrich Claassen, Natuurwysheid uit Afrika.
