October 7th, 2025

You are the sum of your five closest friends.

Not because you copy their choices exactly, but because proximity shapes possibility. Their habits rub off. Their ceilings become your ceilings. Their language shapes what you think is possible.

Think about your last week:

Who did you text first with good news?
Who did you call when you were second-guessing yourself?
Who did you speak to that has continued to keep you thinking?

That circle is your mirror. If their baseline is courage, generosity, and follow-through, you will drift in that direction. If their baseline is excuses or chaos, you’ll drift there too.

This isn’t about “trading up” for status. It’s about curating inputs. Most of us underestimate how much tone, discipline, and ambition are contagious. If you want to be a stronger leader, spend time with people already operating at that level. If you want more calm, surround yourself with people who carry calm. If you want vision, sit at tables where thinking bigger is normal.

Here’s a five-minute audit you can try this week:

List your five most frequent voices.
Note the behaviors and standards they normalize.
Mark each one with a plus, minus, or neutral.
Ask yourself: what quality is missing? Consistency. Curiosity. Execution.
Choose one relationship to deepen, and one new room to step into.

Your five set your floor. And in work, the same is true. Your team, your clients, your collaborators… they’re all part of your five. If they challenge you to lead better, think sharper, and raise the bar, you’ll find yourself rising.

Choose wisely,

Sydney Addis