Hang around with people you want to become

Jim Rohn’s widely quoted line is: “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” 

James Altucher advises young writers and entrepreneurs to find their “scene”—a group of peers who push them to be better. Your father might have given you a warning when he saw you spending time with some bad kids: “Remember, you become like your friends.” One of Goethe’s maxims captures it better:

 “Tell me with whom you consort and I will tell you who you are.”

The second part of Goethe’s quote tells us the stakes of this choice:

 “If I know how you spend your time,” he said, “then I know what might become of you.”