the company you keep

“The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.”

-Epictetus

Long-time readers will remember that my creative collective, PRST, stands for Passion, RELATIONSHIPS, Self, and time. When I saw this quote from Epictetus make its way across my IG feed, I smiled because the importance of who we surround our Selves with has been known for a very long time.

Yet, so many of us keep people around us who do not call forth our best.

It’s hard to live your authentic life when the people in your life are not aligned with where you are going, and while it may not be easy to reduce their influence on you (aka reduce the time spent with them) it will be necessary if you’re serious about living your authentic life.

You owe it to your Self to be surrounded by love, support, positivity, encouragement, accountability, and appreciation—allow the people who will provide this and for whom you can return the favor into your life.

They will find you if you allow them to.

I know this because I am continuously meeting people who are more and more aligned with my authentic life.

An example of this is my friend Grace Nikae; you know Grace from her appearance on LifeDesign+. Since that episode, we’ve continued the conversation and support of each other’s work, and a couple of weeks ago, Grace invited me to lead a Masterclass for the Kizuna Studio, and later that day, we recorded an episode of her podcast, With Grace—I teased both of these in yesterday’s Weekly Note.

I’m excited to share that podcast interview with you today:

If your authentic life seems to be just out of reach or you’re having trouble fully embracing it, take a look at the people in your life and be honest about whether or not they uplift you and call forth your best.

See you tomorrow and keep pursuing,

JC