The 4 People Everyone Needs
We, humans, were not meant to do life alone. We excel in a community, surrounded by people. But - and it's a big but - we are who we choose to surround ourselves with, and this dictates how our life will be and the height of our wellbeing. So our connections matter.
If we hang around 5 people who are rude, we'll be the 6th. If our five closest friends are happy, we'll be number 6. If they're negative, we will be too. Same with positivity. Who we surround ourselves with has more to do with determining our direction than we care to admit.
In my view, there are 4 types of people that we want to surround ourselves with if we want to live our best lives right now!
Mentor
The first person is a mentor. We need a mentor who leads us with their vision and their example. It's somebody we can look towards to model after or somebody we can emulate. We would be happy or proud to be where they are.
A mentor's life is an example or compass to our own. Mentors aren't necessarily people we are personally connected with, as we can be mentored from afar. We can follow someone through their books, podcasts, Youtube channel, or our very own COPD.net. Their vision and example inspire our life.
Peer or friend
The second person is a peer or friend. A peer or friend will be with you, celebrate your victories with you, and hold you accountable for the things you want. Most people have false or fair-weather friends that just let things slide and don't push you to achieve your best. A true friend that loves you enough will challenge you to achieve your goals even when you are in a slump or stuck in your comfort zone. Sometimes we all need a push and that's what a true friend does.
Cheerleader
The third person is a cheerleader. A cheerleader(s) is someone that believes in you and shines a light on you - someone in your corner telling you "You got this!" This person has your back and tells you how great you are and that you can do anything, even when you don't wanna believe it. Your cheerleader is a positive influence in your life that picks you up when you are down.
Coach
The fourth person is a coach. We need a coach who can get into our lives and walk the journey with us. They help teach us the skills, techniques, and strategies that we need to be successful/healthy.
Your family practitioner, respiratory therapist, pulmonologist, nurses, and aides that all look after our care can be coaches. We can use the life experience that took them years to acquire and start immediately benefitting from it. That's the power of having a coach. Plus we are so lucky to have the quality of experts, contributors, and amazing people here at COPD.net all pulling together as one community.
So I challenge you to take stock of your life and see if you have your four in place to live your best life!
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