How to audit your inner circle
Hey, Reckless Optimists!
Here’s a truth that’s hard to ignore: The people closest to you have the biggest impact on your growth.
A couple of years ago, I started the year feeling drained by relationships that no longer served me. It was exhausting—endless rumination, self-doubt, and the nagging feeling that certain connections were holding me back. Then I was reminded of a truth that changed everything: You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.
Who You Surround Yourself With Shapes Your Life
Small thinking, negativity, and judgment are contagious. But so are ambition, gratitude, and growth. Studies from Harvard and UCSD show that happiness spreads up to three degrees away from you—your friends, their friends, and their friends' friends. Your environment influences how you think, feel, and act, whether you realize it or not. People either shrink you or expand you. So, let’s get intentional about curating a circle that fuels our momentum.
The Weekly Challenge: Audit Your Inner Circle
Take Inventory
Grab a pen and divide your paper into two columns:
Who’s helping you grow? List people who inspire, challenge, and support you.
Who’s draining your energy? List relationships that feel heavy, forced, or misaligned. (It’s okay to let go!)
Identify New Connections
Who inspires you and makes you want to be better?
Who have you always wanted to know better but haven’t made time for?
What types of relationships would fuel your growth this year?
Write down 2-3 people or groups you’d like to cultivate relationships with.
Take Action
Pick one person who helps you grow and nurture that connection—send a text, invite them to dinner, or thank them for being in your corner.
Put your list of uplifting people where you can see it. Focus on the good. Nurture the good.
Be the Instigator
Strong relationships don’t happen by accident. They thrive with intention. So make that dinner reservation, send that invite, and be the one who creates opportunities for connection.
Community Spotlight
Shoutout to our Reckless Optimist Caroline G for realizing the corporate tech world was draining her soul and making a bold move! She went back to school while working full-time and launched her own Brooklyn-based Holistic Therapy Practice, guiding people through life changes. YES to knowing what isn’t working and moving toward what is! We’re rooting for you!
Pep Talk to Close It Out
You can’t do life alone, but you can choose who you do it with.
“Show me your circle, and I'll show you your future.”
Let’s be intentional. Let’s build relationships that build us. And let’s hit the week with energy, inspiration, and clarity.
Now go curate a circle that fuels your momentum.