With Whom Do I Want to Surround Myself?
The next important consideration in choosing your path is determining what type of people you want to surround yourself with. This is a question that many people do not think about; I did not when I first chose my path, however it becomes very important later. Often we do not realize that the people who surround us eventually seep into our personality and into our psyche. We need to think about the average populous of people which we surround ourselves with on a day to day basis for the duration of our work. The following list contains ideas of the types of people with whom you could potentially surround yourself.
Often, the path you pick and the people you encounter on that path are at odds. An example is choosing a career path in which the people who surround you need to be corrected and controlled, such as in the judicial system. In the judicial system, you may be surrounded by people who have broken the law, have difficulty controlling themselves, have addictions, or are disruptive. Continuous interaction with such people can negatively impact the people portion of your life cycle. Like a game of numbers, if 90 percent of the people you are around all the time have broken the law, have little respect for social expectations, or have addictive personalities; your perception of the world can become such that everyone appears to be a criminal, and your tolerance of small infractions of the law may reach a higher level than someone who spends their time in a monastery or museum. Thus, a police officer, attorney, or judge; though tasked with upholding the law; may become prone to breaking the law themselves due to their association with the lawbreakers around them.
Using the list above as a reference, take some time to evaluate which types of people you would chose to be around. Also, take some time to think about what types of personalities surround you or will surround you if you continue along your chosen or current direction. See if the two align.
Many times we will find that vocations with undesirable surrounding demographics are the most rewarding, and we choose to take such a direction near term; but plan to only do it for a limited amount of time. If your life path has these types of steps, start to look at what the next levels look like. It is always great to have something to use as a building phase but also planning for when you will no longer desire to do so is a good practice to have as you plan your path. This feature of your path something to explore in depth especially so that you can start to add skills and influences that will benefit your next levels.
We will inevitably have to change what we do if we set ourselves on a temporary gain path at expense of our own enjoyment. Doing so if often a great way to build for a while but often many people do not have a follow up plan. Realizing what you can or cannot do for an indefinite basis is a large factor of how your personality aligns with those whom you surround yourself.
Come back next week as we continue to explore the next question on the list of how to personalize a path that works for us.