Definition of a Friend

A friend is a person with whom one has a bond of mutual affection, typically one exclusive of sexual or family relations.

I am pretty sure you have heard the saying ” show me your friends and I’ll tell you who you are”.

For a long time, my understanding of this saying has been rather shallow and incomprehensive. When you look at the literal definition of friendship, it is safe to conclude that your friends are not only limited to physical persons.

Friends You Must Have.

In an attempt to dive deeper into the unorthodox meaning of a “friend”, it is my understanding that your friend is not only that human being you talk to, walk around with, or associate with. Your friends are equally the books you read, your mother and father and siblings and relatives that you listen to, the information you research online, the podcasts you listen to, the movies or programs you watch.

Your friends are anybody or anything that;

Influences your thoughts
Direct your actions
Impacts your decisions
Informs your life in one way or the other.

The Impact of These Friends on Your Life.

What you consume is a direct result of the environment that you’re in, the people you hang around with, the habits that you form regularly, and the media information that your brain consumes daily.

You are where you are in life right now because of the kind of parents you have or didn’t have, the physical friends you associate with, the books you read or don’t read, the Netflix shows or YouTube channels that you watch or don’t watch.

If you want to change your life, you must change these things for the best.

1.Books

If you want to change where you are, you have to change who you are. And the only way to do so is by adding value to yourself and making yourself better through constant learning.

According to Warren Buffet, reading is a habit that must be formed by people who seek success and financial independence. The reason why reading is so important is that it gives you a summary of other people’s experiences, solutions to mistakes already made, and decades of research information which you can consume in a compressed format and immediately apply to different areas of your life or business for optimal results.

No matter how bad your current circle is, your friends, your circumstances, or what have you, it is not the end of the world. You can change your life today, just by reading and soaking in a wealth of knowledge and wisdom which would not be gained otherwise.

2.Online Research

You probably have heard the saying ” don’t be google frugal”.

You can use google, yahoo, Bing, Baidu, AOL, DuckduckGo, search engines, to find out about the world’s information, including webpages, images, videos, and more. Google however is the most popular with many special features to help you find exactly what you’re looking for.

Some are lovers whilst others are haters of search engines, but whatever you do, you must carry out research. Learning factual information about your schoolwork, your profession, your health, your business, your religion, your values, your country, and the world at large, will inform you enough to set the right priorities that will change your life

3. Audio Recordings

A podcast is defined as a digital audio file often available as a series, made available on the internet. This file can then be downloaded to a computer or mobile device, and subscribers get automatically notified when new content is published.

Do you spend your time listening to gossip, or value-added programs like the young and independent podcast, which teaches you how to become financially independent?

According to a research conducted by Cambridge University, researchers discovered that “sample groups of subjects regularly make the same assumptions about people’s personalities, values, social class, and even their ethnicity, based on their musical preferences”.

The results of this research reminded me of “show me your friends and I’ll tell you who you are”.

Just like music, the kind of audio recordings you listen to shape your life in one way or the other. You may not realize it immediately, but the information you listen to has a direct effect on your hormones. I even came across a Youtube video where a young black man in the USA associated the amount of crime amongst young black men to the violence sang on hip-hop and rap songs in America. Listening to enjoyable music reduces levels of the hormone cortisol in your body, preventing the effects of chronic stress. Remember that 60% of all illnesses and diseases are caused by stress, thus lower stress levels mean higher chances of overall well-being.

Chose what you listen to meticulously and wisely.

4. Videos

The most popular sources of video information are TV programs, YouTube, TikTok, Vimeo, TeacherTube, just to name a few.

According to Elaine Shpungin, people who watch as little as 15 minutes of “negative TV news” have shown a rise in depressed moods, uneasiness, and a tendency to be more “catastrophic” about their worries.

When you focus on positive, value-added, and less dramatic or negative news, movies, and videos in general, you are likely to experience increased production of the protective immunoglobulin A (one of our first lines of defense against attacking micro-organisms).

Instead of consuming videos, music, magazines, and audio that will torture you to death, make it a habit to exclusively consume content that will add value to your life in one way or the other.